HM Treasury

Fuels: Tax Evasion

Ms Margaret Ritchie: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the Answer of 14 September 2015 to Question 8518, what possible prosecutions and convictions have arisen as a result of the dismantling of illegal laundering plants.

Damian Hinds: HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) does not break down statistics for oils prosecutions to separate out those resulting from the dismantling of illegal laundering plants.

Minimum Wage

Paul Blomfield: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the Answer of 10 September 2015 to Question 8778, what level of fine was levied on each company; and how much each such company owed in arrears.

Mr David Gauke: HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) are unable to provide an individual breakdown of penalties and arrears. This would risk identifying individual employers outside of the naming policy and breach HMRC’s statutory duty of confidentiality.

Welfare Tax Credits: Scotland

Alison Thewliss: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many people are in receipt of tax credits in (a) Glasgow Central constituency, (b) the city of Glasgow and (c) Scotland.

Damian Hinds: The latest information on the figures you have requested can be found in the April 2015 Child and Working Tax Credits published statistics, found here:https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/child-and-working-tax-credits-statistics-provisional-awards-geographical-analyses-december-2013

VAT

Ben Howlett: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will estimate the proportion of VAT revenue accruing to the Exchequer which derives from businesses with an annual turnover under (a) £150,000 and (b) £250,000.

Mr David Gauke: HM Revenue and Customs does not routinely publish estimates of VAT revenue accruing to the Exchequer which derives from businesses.

VAT

Ben Howlett: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will review the level of existing VAT thresholds for small businesses.

Mr David Gauke: The UK has chosen to maintain a high VAT registration threshold, and it is currently the highest in the EU (at £82,000 from 1 April 2015). We believe that the UK’s current registration threshold achieves a reasonable balance between competing interests and reduces the administrative burden on the smallest businesses.The Government may not increase this threshold further, aside from maintaining its value in line with inflation, without the consent of the European Commission and the unanimous agreement of all EU Member States.

Interest Rate Swap Transactions

Christian Matheson: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of the Financial Conduct Authority in dealing with complaints relating to the misselling of interest rate swaps.

Christian Matheson: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what recent discussions he has had with the Financial Conduct Authority on the misselling of interest rate swaps.

Christian Matheson: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what recent discussions his Department has had with the Serious Fraud Office on allegations relating to (a) systematic undervaluing of properties owned by small businesses and (b) misselling of interest rate swaps.

Harriett Baldwin: Treasury Ministers and officials meet with a wide range of organisations as part of the usual policy making process.It might be useful to know that the Treasury publishes a list of ministerial meetings with external organisations. This is available online at: www.hm-treasury.gov.uk/minister_hospitality.htm.As you are aware, the FCA is an independent non-governmental body responsible for regulating and supervising the financial services industry. Although the Treasury sets the legal framework for the regulation of financial services, it has strictly limited powers in relation to the FCA. In particular, the Treasury has no general power of direction over the FCA and cannot intervene in individual cases.The independence of the FCA is vital to the role it provides as a safety net for consumers with complaints against financial services firms. Their credibility, authority and value to consumers would be undermined if it were possible for the Government to intervene in their decision-making.The FCA regularly publishes information on the progress of the redress scheme. This can be found here: www.fca.org.uk/consumers/financial-services-products/banking/interest-rate-hedging-products.You may be aware that the Treasury Select Committee’s report into SME lending, published on 10 March, recommended that the FCA collect the information necessary to establish whether there are systemic failures in the redress scheme. The FCA has responded and the Committee, which published this response on 12 October 2015. It can be found here: www.parliament.uk/documents/commons-committees/treasury/Responses/Financial-Conduct-Authority-response-to-Conduct-and-Competition-in-SME.pdf

Income Tax: Scotland

Ian Murray: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, when HM Revenue and Customs will send a notification letter to Scottish taxpayers to inform them of the introduction of the new Scottish rate of income tax.

Ian Murray: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether HM Revenue and Customs intends to send out a notification letter to Scottish taxpayers to inform them of the introduction of the new Scottish rate of income tax prior to or after the rate being set by the Scottish Government.

Mr David Gauke: HM Revenue and Customs plans to send a notification letter to Scottish taxpayers in December of this year, informing them of the introduction of the new Scottish Rate of Income Tax. As the Scottish Government is yet to set a date for the announcement of its intended rate, it is not possible to state whether the letters will be sent before or after the rate has been announced.

Income Tax: Scotland

Ian Murray: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will send detailed information to employers and payroll agents affected by the introduction of the new Scottish rate of income tax to enable them to implement systems and deal with enquiries.

Mr David Gauke: HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) have been liaising with employers and payroll software developers for the last eighteen months to raise their awareness of the Scottish Rate of Income Tax. This has been undertaken through numerous workshops, presentations and publications.HMRC have already published:a technical pack (in Dec 2014) outlining the Specified Electronic Submission files for outgoing messages (P6/P9) for 2016/17 technical specifications for the Specified Electronic Submission for incoming files (FPS/EPS), as well as guidance & test data (June 2015)In addition, test services for the 2016/17 tax year went live on 8 October 2015, enabling payroll developers to submit their test files to HMRC.HMRC have also included details of the Scottish Rate in their Employer Bulletin publication, which will assist employers in dealing with queries from their employees, and published guidance on GOV.UK.

Income Tax: Scotland

Ian Murray: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment HM Revenue and Customs has made of the effect of the new Scottish rate of income tax on remote and mobile workers who are Scottish taxpayers.

Mr David Gauke: People will pay the Scottish Rate of Income Tax if their main place of residence is in Scotland for most of the year. For the vast majority of taxpayers, even those who work remotely or on a mobile basis, this will be a straight forward test of the location of the home they return to when work has finished. HM Revenue and Customs will publish detailed guidance to help people understand how the rules apply to them.

Stock Market: China

Louise Haigh: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what the terms of reference are for his Department's feasibility study into future connections between UK and Chinese stock markets.

Harriett Baldwin: The London Stock Exchange Group and the Shanghai Stock Exchange will carry out a feasibility study on a stock market connection, and will determine the terms of reference in due course.

Public Finance

Louise Haigh: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what recent assessment he has made of the effect of the reduction in the rate of corporation tax on public sector net borrowing and debt.

Mr David Gauke: The direct fiscal impact of the policy was set out in Table 2.1 of the Budget document, accessible via the following link:https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/443232/50325_Summer_Budget_15_Web_Accessible.pdfThis figure does not take into account the dynamic economic impacts of the policy. In 2013, the Government published a report modelling the economic impact of the corporation tax cuts announced in the previous parliament. This showed that, through increases to investment and demand for labour, which in turn raise wages and consumption, the cost of corporation tax cuts falls by between 45 per cent and 60 per cent in the long term.

Pensions: Advisory Services

Tulip Siddiq: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many people have booked free guidance sessions with Pension Wise on defined contribution pensions schemes since April 2015; and how many such sessions Pension Wise is forecast to run by the end of the current financial year.

Harriett Baldwin: As announced on 16 September, more than 20,000 Pension Wise appointments have taken place, and the website has received over 1.5 million visits.

Pensions

Tulip Siddiq: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether the (a) Office for Budget Responsibility and (b) National Audit Office have been given access to the internal HM Revenue and Customs modelling which underpinned the analysis of the economic and fiscal impact of the reforms to defined contribution pension schemes in the July 2014 and July 2015 budget statements.

Mr David Gauke: a) At Budget 2014, the Government announced it will allow those with a defined contribution pension to draw down from it after age 55 from April 2015, subject to their marginal rate of income tax.At Summer Budget 2015, the Government announced a cut in pensions tax relief for high earners by introducing a tapered annual allowance for those with incomes (including the value of pension contributions) of over £150,000.The Budget policy costings documents set out the assumptions and methodologies underlying costings for tax policy decisions.https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/295067/PU1638_policy_costings_bud_2014_with_correction_slip.pdfhttps://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/443195/Policy_costings_summer_budget_2015.pdfAll costings in these documents have been scrutinised and certified by the Office of Budget Responsibility (OBR). This is in line with the Memorandum of Understanding between the OBR, HM Treasury and HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC).b) The National Audit Office audits HMRC’s financial statements, the adequacy of its revenue collection systems and the value for money it achieved from its spending. This is published as part of HMRC’s 2014-15 annual report: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/hmrc-annual-report-and-accounts-2014-to-2015

Slavery

Paul Blomfield: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will collect data on the number of enforcement actions undertaken by HM Revenue and Customs involving victims of modern slavery.

Mr David Gauke: HM Revenue and Customs has collated data on its enforcement actions involving modern slavery since February 2015.

Ambulance Services

Jeremy Lefroy: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps the Government is taking to establish a grant scheme to support charities providing rapid response vehicles for medical purposes.

Greg Hands: The government is currently finalising the administration arrangements for the rapid response grant scheme which will open for applications this financial year. The scheme will cover the VAT costs incurred in the purchasing and fitting out of medical emergency rapid response vehicles by charities which are not already in scope of existing VAT refund schemes or are not already funded for VAT. The total grant available across the UK will be £100,000 in 2015-16.

Welfare Tax Credits

Frank Field: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many reports he has received in each of the last two financial years of HM Revenue and Customs' electronic application portal failing to record and register data and supporting documentation submitted by applicants for child and working tax credits.

Damian Hinds: HM Revenue and Customs do not have an electronic application portal for applicants for child and working tax credits. New claims for tax credits can be submitted by post or over the telephone.

Welfare Tax Credits: Young People

Chris Stephens: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many people under 25 years old in (a) Glasgow South West constituency, (b) Scotland and (c) the UK receive tax credits.

Damian Hinds: The latest information on the number of tax credit recipients under 25 in the UK can be found in table 3.1 of the April 2015 Personal Tax Credits published statistics, found here:https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/personal-tax-credits-provisional-statistics-2013-to-2009These statistics are published in April and December each year.

Child Tax Credit

Vicky Foxcroft: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to paragraph 1.44 of the Summer Budget 2015, what assessment his Department has made of the potential effects of changes to child tax credits on the incidence of (a) in-work poverty and (b) homelessness.

Damian Hinds: The Government is making changes to Child Tax Credits which will help put welfare spending on a more sustainable path. The Government wants to move from a low wage, high tax, high welfare society to a higher wage, lower tax, lower welfare society.The changes will ensure that work will always pay more than a life on benefits, support will be focused more on those on the very lowest incomes and the system will be fairer upon those who pay for it, as well as those who benefit from it. Taking the welfare changes in the Summer Budget together with the record increases in the income tax personal allowance and the introduction of the New Living Wage, 8 out of 10 working households will be better off by 2017/18.The Summer Budget publication also sets out illustrative examples (Table 1.8, p.40) of the combined impact of the changes to welfare, the personal allowance and the National Living Wage on individual households.

Loan Guarantee Scheme: China

Paul Flynn: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether the loan guarantee facility offered to Chinese nuclear companies in his announcement in Beijing on 21 September 2015 remains within the scope of the European Commission's state aid decision of 8 October 2014 concerning the Hinkley Point C project; and when the Government informed the Commission of that new loan guarantee.

Greg Hands: The Chancellor’s announcement on 21 September 2015 set out that the government and the Hinkley Point C project company had agreed the terms of a £2 billion guarantee through the UK Guarantees Scheme. This guarantee is the first tranche of debt guarantees that was approved as part of the European Commission’s approval of the wider support package for Hinkley Point C. The government is satisfied that the guarantee remains within the terms set out by the EU Commission.

Taxation: Food

Mr Alistair Carmichael: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what his policy is on the introduction of a tax on food with a high sugar content; and what assessment his Department has made of the effect of food taxes on improving dietary choices.

Mr David Gauke: At present the Government has no plans to introduce new taxes on food and drinks.The Government is using a range of approaches to promote health outcomes, including working with the food and drink industry to encourage the reformulation of products. A comprehensive ‘childhood obesity strategy’ will be launched later this year.

Treasury: Pressure Groups

Chris Stephens: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what meetings his Department has had with representatives of (a) the Taxpayers' Alliance, (b) the Confederation of British Industry, (c) the Institute of Economic Affairs, (d) the Adam Smith Institute, (e) the Freedom Association, (f) the Politics and Economic Research Trust and (g) the Midlands Industrial Council in the last 12 months.

Harriett Baldwin: Treasury Ministers and officials have meetings with a wide variety of organisations in the public and private sectors as part of the process of policy development and delivery.Details of ministerial and permanent secretary meetings with external organisations on departmental business are published on a quarterly basis and are available at:https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/hmt-ministers-meetings-hospitality-gifts-and-overseas-travel

National Infrastructure Commission

Paul Flynn: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what planning powers he plans to provide to the National Infrastructure Commission; and what the relationship is between the remit of that Commission and the powers exercised by the (a) devolved administrations and (b) Secretaries of State for (i) Transport, (ii) Energy and Climate Change and (iii) Communities and Local Government.

Greg Hands: HM Treasury will soon consult on what planning powers will be given to the National Infrastructure Commission, and on its remit.It will initially focus on areas of UK government competence. Where spending is devolved, it will be a matter for the devolved governments whether they wish to work with the Commission and how to respond to any recommendations it makes.The Commission will provide objective analysis and an independent view on infrastructure needs, but Government will retain the final say on policy and which projects receive government support in being delivered.

Climate Change Levy: Exemptions

Tulip Siddiq: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the Answer of 8 September 2015 to Question 8254, what the overall value is of climate change levy tax waived for levy exemption certificates (a) in each region and (b) for each type of renewable and low carbon technology in each of the last four years.

Mr David Gauke: The Climate Change Levy (CCL) renewable source exemption was administered on a national basis and available to all renewable technology. Only a very detailed analysis of Ofgem's records would enable the government to provide a breakdown of value of CCL waived in each region and for each type of renewable technology, which cannot be justified on the grounds of cost.

Welfare Tax Credits

Frank Field: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many households claiming working and child tax credits consist of (a) all UK nationals, (b) at least one UK national and at least one non-UK national and (c) all non-UK nationals.

Damian Hinds: The information requested is not available.

Welfare Tax Credits: Warrington North

Helen Jones: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what estimate he has made of the number of people in Warrington North constituency who will receive a reduced amount of tax credit in the next financial year; and what estimate he has made of the average amount by which such tax credit payments will fall.

Damian Hinds: This information is not available.The Government is making changes to Tax Credits and Universal Credit which will help put welfare spending on a more sustainable path. The tax credits system will be focussed on those who need it most. Prior to 2010, 9 out of 10 families with children in the UK were eligible for tax credits and reforms in the previous Parliament reduced this to 6 out of 10. The measures announced in the Summer Budget 2015 will result in 5 out of 10 UK families being eligible for tax credits support.The number of affected households and average reduction in credits to households in Warrington North constituency is not available.HMRC publishes information on households’ tax credit award in each constituency. The most recent available data is for 2013-14 and can be found here:https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/personal-tax-credits-finalised-award-statistics-geographical-statistics-2013-to-2014

Speaker's Committee on the Electoral Commission

UK Membership of EU: Referendums

John Glen: To ask the hon. Member for South West Devon, representing the Speaker's Committee on the Electoral Commission, whether the Electoral Commission has made any assessment of the suitability of different dates for the forthcoming EU referendum.

Mr Gary Streeter: The Electoral Commission is pleased that the European Union Referendum Bill has been amended to ensure that polling day for the referendum will not be held on the same day as scheduled elections in May 2016 or May 2017. It is important that any debate about the UK’s membership of the European Union takes place at a time that allows the full participation of voters and campaigners, uncomplicated by competing messages and activity relating to other scheduled elections.The Commission will continue to consider the operational implications of holding a referendum on any other date before 31 December 2017, and will publish its advice to Parliament on any regulations which specify the day on which the referendum is to be held.To inform their planning, the Electoral Commission has also highlighted to Government officials that any date for the referendum that is close to scheduled elections could lead to problems for voters and campaigners because of overlapping timetables for the polls. For example, a referendum held very shortly after elections might require postal votes to be despatched before polling day for the earlier elections.

Department for Work and Pensions

Social Security Benefits

Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many applications were made for short-term benefit advance and hardship payments in the last 12 months; and what proportion of such applications were successful.

Priti Patel: Please see table below for Short Term Benefit Advance (STBA) applications and those which have been successful;October 2014 – September 2015STBA Applications Received228,039STBA Primary Benefits Paid52,517STBA Decisions Made110,000STBA Awarded87,534% STBA Awarded against Decisions Made79.6%The figures in the above table cannot be added/subtracted together due to each stage of the process incurring a time lag.DefinitionsSTBA Applications Received - The number of applications received by the Department requesting an STBASTBA Primary Benefits Paid - The number of applications which have not been sent for decision due to the primary benefit being paid, negating the need for an STBASTBA Decisions Made - The number of STBA applications which have been sent for a decision (this has been included due to being part of the calculation for the success rate)STBA Awarded - Of those sent for a decision this is the number which have been awarded an STBA% STBA Awarded against Decisions Made - This is the success rate of STBAs sent for decisionFor context we have also supplied the number of claims which have not beensubmitted for decision due to primary benefit being paid and STBA decisions made. The data provided is for Employment and Support Allowance, Incapacity Benefits, Jobseeker’s Allowance and Income Support.DWP intends to publish figures on the number of hardship applications and awards separately.SourceSTBA Applications Received & Primary Benefits Paid - Management Information System Programme (MISP). This collation is based on clerical counts submitted by the Centres and is Internal MI which has been agreed for use in publications of Parliamentary questions and Freedom of Information requests.STBA Awarded - Benefit Expenditure Business Information system.

State Retirement Pensions: Females

Mr Nicholas Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if he will review the increase in the state pension age to mitigate the effects of that change on women born between April 1953 and April 1960.

Justin Tomlinson: The Government will not be revisiting the State Pension age timetable for women affected by the Pensions Act 2011.Of the approximately five million individuals affected, two point four million are men. For women, the maximum increase in State Pension age relative to the previous timetable is 18 months and for men it is 12 months.As analysis by the Institute for Fiscal Studies has shown, the rise in women’s State Pension age since 2010 has been accompanied by increases in employment rates for the women affected. Those unable to work because of health problems may be able to claim Employment and Support Allowance, whilst those who are unemployed may be able to receive Jobseeker's Allowance.All those affected by faster equalisation of pensionable ages for men and women will reach State Pension age after the introduction of the new State Pension. The new State Pension will be more generous for many women who have done poorly under the current system, largely as a result of lower average earnings and part-time working. Around 650,000 women reaching State Pension age in the first ten years will receive an average of £8 per week (in 2014/15 earnings terms) more due to the new State Pension valuation of their National Insurance record.Regular consideration of State Pension age is necessary to ensure the pensions system remains sustainable as life expectancy grows. The 2014 Act provides for a 6-yearly review, to take into account up-to-date life expectancy data and the findings of an independently-led review. The first review will conclude by May 2017 and will consider, amongst a number of other factors, the impact of State Pension age change on women.

Credit Unions

Mr Robin Walker: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment has been made of the effectiveness of the Government's credit union expansion programme; and what assessment he has made of the feasibility of extending that programme.

Justin Tomlinson: DWP’s contract with the Association of British Credit Unions Ltd to deliver the Credit Union Expansion Project began in May 2013. It was due to end in April 2015 but we are currently considering a request for a further extension. The Department has plans to review effectiveness at the end of the Project.

Television: Licensing

Ian C. Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what the cost to the public purse was of television licences for people over the age of 75 in each of the last three years.

Justin Tomlinson: DWP’s expenditure figures on TV licences for the over 75s can be found in table 1a of the ‘summer budget’ link https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/benefit-expenditure-and-caseload-tables-2015

Refugees: National Insurance

Thangam Debbonaire: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment he has made of the number of people who do not receive a national insurance number within 28 days of being granted refugee status.

Priti Patel: No assessment has been made of the number of people who do not receive a National Insurance number (NINo) within 28 days of being granted refugee status.For those granted leave to remain as a result of a successful asylum claim, a joint fast track NINo application process operates between DWP and the Home Office. This process is applicable to the principal family member and the NINo is allocated 2 days after the receipt of the application; this process has been in place since 2005.The current year to date processing time for all NINo applications is 11.3 days.

Mortgages: Government Assistance

Owen Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what specific guidance and advice his Department will be issuing to pensioners on the change in the Support for Mortgage Interest scheme from a benefit to an interest-bearing loan.

Justin Tomlinson: The Department will be ensure that impartial advice is provided to all claimants, including pensioners, on taking out a loan. This will ensure that all claimants are able to make informed decisions about taking a SMI loan.

Housing Benefit: Expenditure

Owen Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how much was spent on housing benefit between 2010 and 2015.

Justin Tomlinson: Housing Benefit expenditure information is available in our Benefit Expenditure tables which can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/benefit-expenditure-and-caseload-tables-2015

Mortgages: Government Assistance

Owen Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many pensioners will lose money as a result of changing the Support for Mortgage Interest scheme from a benefit to an interest-bearing loan; and what the average annual loss will be for such pensioners.

Justin Tomlinson: All SMI claimants, including pensioners, will continue to receive the same level of support as now towards their mortgage interest when it becomes a loan. As a result no claimants, including pensioners, will receive less in SMI payments than they would now.

Mortgages: Government Assistance

Owen Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate his Department has made of the level of administration fees and interest charges to pensioners under the Support for Mortgage Interest loan scheme.

Justin Tomlinson: The interest rate charged on the loans will be tied to the Office for Budget Responsibility’s (OBR) forecast for gilts rates, so that the interest reflects the government cost of borrowing.The rate will be updated every 6 months and is forecast to be 2.9% in 2018/19. (OBR forecast Budget 2015).The fees charged will reflect the forecast average cost of administering the loans scheme. Until a provider has been appointed it is not possible to state what those fees might be.

Pneumoconiosis: Compensation

Alan Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to the schedule of comparable programme objects in HM Treasury's publication, Funding the Scottish Parliament, National Assembly for Wales and Northern Ireland Assembly: Statement of Funding Policy, published in October 2010, what the total expenditure was on how many claims relating to pneumoconiosis in (a) the UK, (b) Scotland, (c) Wales and (d) Kilmarnock and Loudon constituency between 2010 and 2015; and how many such claims were unsuccessful.

Justin Tomlinson: The information requested is not readily available and could only be provided at disproportionate cost.Benefit expenditure for Pneumoconiosis at a Great Britain level is available in our published expenditure tables which are available at:https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/benefit-expenditure-and-caseload-tables-2015The number of monthly Pneumoconiosis claims and expenditure at a Great Britain level by type of claimant and payment is available from here:https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/industrial-injuries-disablement-benefit-quarterly-statistics

Pneumoconiosis: Compensation

Alan Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what the average time was for a decision to be made on a claim for pneumoconiosis between 2010 and 2015.

Justin Tomlinson: The information requested is not available and could only be provided at disproportionate cost.

Funerals: Low Incomes

Simon Danczuk: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what support his Department is giving to people on low incomes who are unable to cover the costs of a funeral deposit.

Justin Tomlinson: I believe it is important that help is available to people on low incomes when they face moments of unforeseeable and exceptional need. For this reason, the Social Fund Funeral Expenses Payments scheme provides help to people on qualifying benefits with funeral costs.Social Fund Budgeting Loans, which can be made to people who have been in receipt of a qualifying benefit for at least 26 weeks, are also available to support people with funeral costs. Budgeting Loans can be made irrespective of whether the applicant has claimed or is entitled to a Funeral Expenses Payment, and can therefore help where a deposit is required up front.

Children: Poverty

Helen Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 11 September 2015 to Question 8870, whether the new life chances measures will monitor households where an adult is in work; and what steps he plans to take to measure the effects of welfare changes on child poverty for children in working households with low incomes.

Priti Patel: The Government is committed to working to eliminate child poverty and improving life chances for children.We are clear that the existing low-income measures do not drive the right action to tackle the root causes of child poverty. They simply deal with the symptoms.We are now setting out a new way to drive effective action and make a real difference in the lives of disadvantaged children. Our proposals in the Welfare Reform and Work Bill introduce new statutory measures of worklessness and educational attainment. For the first time, we are ensuring through legislation that Government action will be focused on these areas, where the evidence tells us we can make the biggest difference for our children – now and in the future.These measures will be reported annually, which means progress will be clearly visible for all to see. My Department will also continue to publish low-income statistics as part of the ‘Households Below Average Income’ publication.

Social Security Benefits

Emily Thornberry: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many people who were affected by the benefit cap in August 2015 have been affected by the benefit cap at any point since September 2013.

Emily Thornberry: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many people who were affected by the benefit cap in August 2015 were also affected by the benefit cap in September 2013.

Justin Tomlinson: Benefit cap statistics for the period to August 2015 have been pre-announced for publication on 5th November 2015.

Home Office

Immigration Controls

Sir David Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recent representations she has received on proposals that Tier 2 visa immigrants from outside the European Economic Area must be earning £35,000 or more to qualify for indefinite leave to remain in the UK; and if she will make a statement.

James Brokenshire: The Home Office has received various representations on the £35,000 settlement threshold for Tier 2 (the skilled worker category) since it was announced in 2012.The Government announced in 2012 that from 6 April 2016 Tier 2 visa holders who apply for settlement in the UK will be required to meet a minimum annual salary requirement of £35,000. Prior to the announcement, both the Home Office and the independent Migrant Advisory Committee carried out a consultation on the changes. PhD level roles and those in shortage will be exempt from the £35,000 threshold.The Home Office published a full impact assessment on the changes to Tier 2 settlement rules when they were laid before Parliament on 15 March 2012, which includes details of relevant consultation. The impact assessment is available on the gov.uk website at:https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/117957/impact-assessment-tier2.pdf.

Immigrants: Health Services

Alison Thewliss: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many visa applicants in (a) Scotland, (b) Glasgow and (c) Glasgow Central constituency have been liable for the Immigration Health Surcharge since that charge's introduction.

James Brokenshire: Since its introduction in April, the Immigration Health Surcharge has collected more than £100 million in income for the NHS. The Home Office does not hold the necessary management information to determine how many visa applicants have been liable to pay the Immigration Health Surcharge by geographical location in the UK.

Undocumented Workers

Gavin Newlands: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many (a) large and (b) small businesses have been found to have employed illegal migrants between 2010 and 2015.

James Brokenshire: The Home Office does not hold information on the size of businesses found to have employed illegal migrant workers. I can inform you that between the financial years 2010-11 and 2014-15 a total of 8,632 civil penalties were issued to employers who employed illegal migrants. The same employer may have received more than one penalty during this period.

Home Office: Staff

Gavin Newlands: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many staff are employed by her Department's landlord helpline service.

James Brokenshire: This service is for general queries and is provided by a commercial partner. Re-sources are constantly reviewed and deployed according to demand. Currently 2 full time equivalent members of staff handle incoming calls with a further 20 members of the call handling team trained in this area if additional resource is required.

Immigrants

Kate Osamor: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many people granted temporary leave to remain have subsequently been refused indefinite leave to remain upon re-application in each year since 2010.

James Brokenshire: The total number of people granted temporary leave to remain who have subsequently been refused indefinite leave to remain upon re-application in each year since 2010 is as follows:2010 – 4,0422011 – 3,3342012 – 2,0872013 – 3,0972014 – 2,7122015 – 1,364 (up to 30 June 2015 in line with published data)

Immigrants: Detainees

Kate Osamor: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, for what reasons the Government has decided not to impose a time limit on detention of immigrants.

James Brokenshire: It is not possible to detain someone indefinitely under immigration powers. In order to detain an individual pending removal there must be a reasonable prospect of removal in a reasonable timeframe.Each case is determined on its own merits. The introduction of an arbitrary time limit could lead to the release of foreign criminals and illegal immigrants even when their removal is imminent.We always detain people for the least time necessary. Published statistics show that, in the year to June 2015, over 90 per cent of individuals leaving detention had been detained for four months or less.

Nurses: Migrant Workers

Sir David Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many nurses from the Philippines have been recruited to work in the NHS under Tier 2 visas in each year since 2010; and if she will make a statement.

James Brokenshire: The table below shows the number of Certificates of Sponsorship for employment as a nurse that were used in applications from Filipino nationals for Tier 2 entry clearance visas:201020112012201320142015 (to 30 June)505148175374726346The figures above include applications sponsored by all Tier 2 employers, including the NHS. The cost of obtaining figures for nurses sponsored by NHS employers would be disproportionate.Additionally, the number of Certificates of Sponsorship used in entry clearance applications may not directly correlate with the number of Filipino national nurses recruited to work in the United Kingdom under Tier 2. For example, an individual may have used their Certificate of Sponsorship in an unsuccessful visa application, or may subsequently have decided against taking up a post.

HM Passport Office: Scotland

Alison Thewliss: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many staff in Scotland have been employed by HM Passport Office in each year since 2005.

James Brokenshire: The numbers of staff employed by HM Passport Office in Scotland at 31st March each year since 2005 is shown in the attached table.



HMPO staff employed in Scotland
(Word Document, 18.7 KB)

Asylum: Housing

Ian C. Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what criteria she applies when determining the selection of areas as asylum dispersal areas.

James Brokenshire: Asylum seekers are housed according to their individual needs and where there is available and appropriate accommodation. Agreements between the Government and local authorities are voluntary and have been in place since the previous Labour Government legislated for them in 1999.We review this regularly, working closely with local authorities to ensure that the impact of asylum dispersals are considered and acted upon. This includes formal monitoring existing arrangements and the impact on local services and community cohesion.

Passports: British Nationals Abroad

Andrew Gwynne: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many passports have been issued to (a) British subjects, (b) British protected persons and (c) British overseas citizens in each of the last five years.

James Brokenshire: The requested figures are shown in theattached table. The figures include all British passports issued by Her Majesty’s Passport Office and the Foreign and Commonwealth Office for the three categories requested.



Passports issued by HMPO & FCO
(Word Document, 14.95 KB)

Visas: Orkney and Shetland

Mr Alistair Carmichael: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many applications have been made from Orkney and Shetland for visas requiring the enrolment of biometric information in each year since its introduction.

James Brokenshire: The information requested is shown in the table attached.



UKVI applications from Orkney & Shetland
(Word Document, 35.5 KB)

Asylum: Housing

Ian C. Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many (a) asylum seekers are dispersed and (b) refugees are resident in each (i) local authority and (ii) parliamentary constituency.

James Brokenshire: The Home Office publish figures on the number of asylum applicants living in dispersed accommodation (under Section 95), by local authority, in the quarterly Immigration Statistics release. The latest release for April-June 2015 is available here:https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/immigration-statistics-april-to-june-2015Figures on Section 95 support by local authority (including those in dispersed accommodation) are published in table as_16q, in volume 4 of the Asylum data tables: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/455576/asylum4-q2-2015-tabs.odsWe are unable to provide the number of refugees living in each Local Authority and parliamentary constituency, as once refugee status has been granted the individual is not required to keep the Home Office updated on their current location.

Refugees: Syria

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department is taking to ensure that Syrian refugees coming to Britain do not have criminal records or connections to extremist groups.

James Brokenshire: We take security extremely seriously in cases referred to us for resettlement, working closely with the UNHCR who have their own robust identification processes in place. When potential cases are submitted by the UNHCR for our consideration they are screened and considered by the Home Office for suitability for entry to the UK: we retain the right to reject individuals on security, war crimes or other grounds. For reasons of national security, we cannot provide further on the details of the screening process itself.

Asylum: Finance

Diana Johnson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the effect on claimants of the reduction in section 95 support for asylum seeker families and children.

James Brokenshire: The Home Office has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Police: Stun Guns

Mr Chuka Umunna: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, for what reasons information held by her Department regarding the ethnicity, age and gender of people involved in police Taser incidents has not been included in annually published statistics; and if she will ensure such information is included in future publications of annual police Taser incident statistics.

Mike Penning: The Home Office has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Counter-terrorism: Personal Records

Greg Mulholland: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, for what length of time her Department retains information about a person after they have been referred to the Channel programme.

James Brokenshire: The Home Office has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Refugees: Syria

Steve McCabe: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what priority is being given to abandoned and orphaned children in the selection of Syrian refugees likely to be offered a new home in the UK.

Richard Harrington: The Home Office has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Refugees: Syria

Steve McCabe: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, when she expects the first Syrian refugees rescued from camps in the Middle East to arrive in the UK.

Richard Harrington: The Home Office has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Health Services: Harassment

Dr Tania Mathias: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she is taking to protect women visiting pregnancy advisory centres and residents living near such centres from harassment.

Mike Penning: I refer my Hon. Friend to the answer I gave to 5385 on 13 July 2015.

Asylum: Applications

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what plans she has to reduce the time taken to process asylum applications.

James Brokenshire: The Home Office has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Police: South East

Sir Nicholas Soames: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will merge the Hampshire, Surrey and Sussex police forces.

Mike Penning: The Home Office has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Vetting

Mr Nigel Evans: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she plans to take to ensure that delays in Disclosure and Barring Service checks by (a) the Metropolitan Police and (b) other constabularies are minimised.

Karen Bradley: The Home Office has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Vetting

Mr Nigel Evans: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what plans the Disclosure and Barring Service has to protect vulnerable groups from exposure to unchecked employees and unregistered employers.

Karen Bradley: The Home Office has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Vetting

Mr Nigel Evans: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many Disclosure and Barring Service checks were carried out in (a) the UK, (b) Lancashire and (c) Ribble Valley constituency in the last 12 months.

Karen Bradley: The Home Office has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Refugees

Paul Blomfield: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to the Answer of 12 October 2015 from the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Refugees, Official Report, column 13, on Refugee crisis, if she will place in the Library a copy of the letter of 1 October to chief executives of local authorities.

Richard Harrington: The Home Office has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

College of Policing: Saudi Arabia

Andy Slaughter: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether she plans to withdraw the courses and services provided by the College of Policing to the government of Saudi Arabia.

Mike Penning: The Home Office has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Overseas Visitors: China

Mr Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the costs and difficulties faced by Chinese visitors and tourists wishing to enter the UK.

James Brokenshire: The Home Office has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Community Engagement Forum

Greg Mulholland: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what the membership of the Community Engagement Forum is.

James Brokenshire: The Home Office has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Police: Stun Guns

Mr Chuka Umunna: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will commission an investigation into the reasons for the proportion of Taser incidents which involve black people; and if she will make a statement.

Mike Penning: The Home Office has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Northern Ireland Office

Northern Ireland Office: Pressure Groups

Chris Stephens: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, what meetings (a) Ministers and (b) officials in her Department have had with representatives of (i) the Taxpayers' Alliance, (ii) the Confederation of British Industry, (iii) the Institute of Economic Affairs, (iv) the Adam Smith Institute, (v) the Freedom Association, (vi) the Politics and Economics Research Trust and (vii) the Midlands Industrial Council in the last 12 months.

Mr Ben Wallace: Details of Ministers' and Permanent Secretaries meetings with external organisations are published up to 31 March 2015 and can be accessed on Gov.uk at: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/ministers-transparency-publications.Further publications of Ministerial and Permanent Secretaries meetings will be published in due course.

Northern Ireland Government

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, what progress she has made in resolving the political situation in Northern Ireland.

Mr Ben Wallace: It is essential that the cross-party talks deliver a way to implement the Stormont House Agreement and also a means to address the continuing impact of paramilitary organisations.The Northern Ireland parties are engaging intensively on these issues but time is short and a resolution is needed urgently.

Cars: Northern Ireland

Ms Margaret Ritchie: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, whether she has had discussions with Volkswagen and Renault car manufacturers regarding the recall of cars in Northern Ireland aged one to five years for refitting new computer and brake systems; and if she will make a statement.

Mr Ben Wallace: Northern Ireland Office Ministers have had no discussions with Volkswagen and Renault car manufacturers regarding the recall of cars in Northern Ireland.

Department of Health

Government Departments: Smoking

Mark Pritchard: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he will consult on implementing no smoking zones outside government buildings for people employed in those buildings.

Jane Ellison: The Government has no current plans to extend smokefree legislation to outside public areas.

Social Services: Finance

Kate Osamor: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps he plans to take to ensure councils have adequate funding to protect social care following the implementation of the National Living Wage in April 2016.

Alistair Burt: Funding decisions for 2016/17 onwards, including for social care, are subject to the ongoing Spending Review which will review expenditure and future demand for services. This includes considerations such as the forthcoming implementation of the National Living Wage. The Spending Review will be published on 25 November 2015.

NHS: Procurement

Ian Austin: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what advice his Department issues to NHS bodies on setting payment terms for NHS suppliers.

George Freeman: The Department issues guidance through the Department of Health Group Manual for Accounts which sets out that National Health Service bodies must comply with the Prompt Payment Code target to pay at least 95% of invoices, both for NHS and non-NHS suppliers within 30 days of receipt of an invoice. NHS bodies, like all Government bodies, are required to also follow the HM Treasury guidance ‘Managing Public Money’, which sets out that they should include a clause in their contracts requiring prime contractors to pay their suppliers within 30 days.The Department has developed standard NHS terms and conditionsforuse by NHS bodies procuring goods and services from commercial suppliers. The link below takes you to the full suite of the NHS Terms and Conditions including the overarching guidance note.https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/nhs-standard-terms-and-conditions-of-contract-for-the-purchase-of-goods-and-supply-of-servicesClause 9 ‘Price and Payment’ covers 30 day payment terms (cl 9.6) and also states the Authority shall endeavour to pay sooner in accordance with any applicable government prompt payment target. Also, Clause 28.5 mirrors prompt payment requirement through the supply chain.

Cervical Cancer

Nigel Adams: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment he has made of progress in diagnosing and treating cervical cancers more effectively in the last five years; and if he will make a statement.

Jane Ellison: We recognise that cervical screening continues to play a key role in preventing women getting, and being harmed by, cervical cancer. The NHS Cervical Screening Programme in England offers screening to women aged 25 to 49 every three years, and women aged 50 to 64 every five years. Women aged over 65 should only be screened if they have not been screened since age 50 or if they have had recent abnormal results.Human papillomavirus (HPV) testing as triage for women with mild and borderline results and as a test of cure for women previously treated for cervical abnormalities became routine across the NHS Cervical Screening Programme from 1 April 2014. This makes cervical screening more targeted and significantly reduces the need for repeat testing. It is estimated that over 160,000 women a year do not need repeat tests due to mild or borderline results and around 400,000 women have been removed from ten year annual follow-up due to a previous abnormal result.In April 2012, the UK National Screening Committee (UK NSC), which advises Ministers and the National Health Service in all four countries about all aspects of screening policy and supports implementation, gave its support for a pilot to assess the value of using HPV testing as primary screening for cervical disease, rather than the currently used cytology test. The pilot has been establishing the feasibility of using HPV as the primary screen for cervical disease in order to achieve better outcomes for women, while minimising over-treatment and anxiety, and whether it is practical to roll out nationally. The UK NSC opened a public consultation on this in July 2015. The consultation closes on 2 November 2015. Ministers expect to receive a recommendation from the UK NSC following the closure of the public consultation.Earlier diagnosis and prevention is a key focus of the Independent Cancer Taskforce report, Achieving World-Class Cancer Outcomes: A Strategy for England 2015-2020. It includes a recommendation that, assuming a positive recommendation by the NSC, Public Health England and NHS England should drive a rapid roll-out of primary HPV testing into the cervical screening programme. The Taskforce also made a number of recommendations on the early diagnosis of cancers more generally.In addition, the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence has published a range of guidance on the treatment and screening of cervical cancer and further information is available at:www.nice.org.uk/guidance/conditions-and-diseases/cancer/cervical-cancer

NHS: Temporary Employment

Mr Roger Godsiff: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how much the NHS spent on (a) nurses and (b) doctors employed through an agency in each of the last five years.

Alistair Burt: The information that has been requested is not recorded centrally by the Department.2013-14 was the first time that the Department collected financial data from National Health Service trusts and foundation trusts in respect of net temporary and agency staffing costs. Available data on spending nationally on all agency staff is set out in the table below. We are not able to separately identify total spending with agencies on nurses and doctors from centrally held data.Total cost to the NHS of temporary staff in 2013-14 and 2014-152013-14 £000s2014-15 £000sTotal NHS Providers2,605,3783,355,723Source: Department of Health Annual Report and Accounts 2014-15

NHS: Temporary Employment

Mr Roger Godsiff: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what proportion of (a) the total NHS staff budget, (b) spending on doctors and (c) spending on nurses was spent on agency staff in each of the last five years.

Alistair Burt: The information requested is not held centrally. The annual National Health Service budget does not specifically identify for a budget for staff costs. While the Department’s Annual Report and Accounts record the total amounts spent on agency staff from 2013-14, these data do not permit the proportion spent on doctors or nurses to be calculated.2013-14 was the first year for which the Department collected financial data from NHS trusts and foundation trusts in respect of net temporary and agency staffing costs.

Psychiatry: Children

Paul Blomfield: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment he has made of the potential effect of the lack of statutory regulation of child psychotherapists on patient safety.

Ben Gummer: Whilst statutory regulation is sometimes necessary where significant risks to users of services cannot be mitigated in other ways, it is not always the most proportionate or effective means of assuring the safe and effective care of service users.For the overwhelming majority of occupational and professional groups which are not currently subject to statutory regulation, including those groups recommended by the Health and Care Professions Council for statutory regulation in the past, the accreditation of voluntary registers by the Professional Standards Authority for Health and Social Care (PSA) is the preferred option.The voluntary register held by the Association of Child Psychotherapists, which is a professional body for psychoanalytic child and adolescent psychotherapists in the United Kingdom, is subject to independent annual accreditation by the PSA. Accredited registers meet demanding standards set by the PSA including those relevant to governance, the setting of standards for registrants, education and training, and managing the register. This provides the public with assurance that is appropriate and proportionate.

Breastfeeding

Alison Thewliss: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assistance his Department provides to the breastfeeding support line.

Ben Gummer: In 2008 the Department granted funding to the Breastfeeding Network to help provide the National Breastfeeding Helpline. Funding from the Department ceased in 2012.Women receive information and support on infant feeding from their midwife and health visitor. Additional information and support is available on the Start4Life and NHS Choices websites.

Streptococcus: Babies

Mr Barry Sheerman: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what cost benefit assessment his Department has made of a policy of providing Group B strep tests to new-born babies on the NHS.

Mr Barry Sheerman: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what recent representations he has received on the provision of Group B strep tests for new-born babies.

Mr Barry Sheerman: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what his policy is on providing Group B strep tests for new-born babies.

Ben Gummer: Routine testing of babies for Group B Streptococcus (GBS) infection is not recommended. Therefore, no cost benefit assessment has been made by the Department on providing GBS tests to newborn babies.A search of the Department’s Ministerial correspondence database has identified 41 items of correspondence received since 1 January 2015 on GBS. This correspondence relates mainly to offering testing for GBS carriage in pregnancy.If a woman has previously had a baby with GBS, her maternity team will either monitor the health of her newborn baby closely for at least 12 hours after birth, or treat them with antibiotics until blood tests confirm whether or not GBS is present. The Department’s policy is not to offer antenatal screening for GBS carriage. This is based on advice from the UK National Screening Committee the body responsible for advising Ministers and the National Health Service in all four countries about all aspects of screening policy, and their advice is because there is insufficient evidence to demonstrate that the benefits to be gained from screening would outweigh the harms.

NHS: Finance

Mr Andrew Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he will initiate all-party discussions on how to ensure that the NHS is financially sustainable in the long-term.

Alistair Burt: Rising demands and continued fiscal constraint means that the National Health Service faces challenges in ensuring that it remains financially sustainable in the future. The Government believes that the answer to these challenges lies in changing the way services are delivered and keeping people well and independent for longer, not in altering the fundamental principles that underpin the NHS.The Government has committed to increasing spending on the NHS in real terms every year in this Parliament, with spending to be at least £8 billion higher by 2020 over and above inflation. This will fund and support the NHS’s own action plan for the next five years – the NHS Five Year Forward View. Robust discussions on financing the NHS take place regularly in Parliament which will continue to inform the Government.

Clinical Commissioning Groups

Harry Harpham: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what discussions his Department has had with NHS England on the contents of the planned Clinical Commissioning Groups' (CCG) Scorecard; and what steps he has taken to ensure that the CCG's scorecard secures improved outcomes for people on the autism spectrum.

George Freeman: The King’s Fund published their report on a CCG scorecard, Measuring the Performance of Local Health Systems (http://www.kingsfund.org.uk/publications/articles/measuring-performance-local-health-systems), on 12 October. The King’s Fund recommends that the scorecard should comprise a small number of headline indicators targeted at the public; a broader set of indicators on performance in delivering national priorities; and a wide set of indicators for local health systems to use for improvement.The Department will publish further details of how it will work with NHS England to implement the scorecard in due course.

Alcoholism

Liam Byrne: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what estimate he has made of the number of children who are the children of alcoholics.

Jane Ellison: The main source for estimates of children of alcohol-misusing parents comes from a 2009 research paper which provided new estimates of the number of children (under 16 years) of substance misusing parents. The report found:- 6% living with a dependent drinker (over 700,000 children);- Around 26,000 babies under the age of one in England living with a parent who would be classified as a ‘dependent’ drinker.

Alcoholism

Liam Byrne: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what estimate he has made of the cost to the UK of alcoholism.

Jane Ellison: We do not have reliable estimates of the specific cost of alcoholism but the estimated cost of broader alcohol-related harms to society is £21 billion.The £21 billion figure is from a 2012 estimate, which formed part of the Department’s written evidence to the Health Select Committee on 19 July 2012.

Alcoholism

Liam Byrne: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what his Department's strategy is for supporting children who are the children of alcoholics; and if he will make a statement.

Jane Ellison: Parents play a crucial role in how their children develop and behave and act as role models for them and we recognise that parental alcohol dependency can limit parenting capacity and this can have serious consequences for children.A number of initiatives to ensure that children have the best possible start in life have been introduced:- the national Healthy Child Programme supports children’s health and development, by providing parenting support and health promotion guidance; and- the expanded Troubled Families programme launched in April 2015 offers support on health issues to up to 400,000 families, including for alcohol and drug misuse.We have given local authorities more than £8 billion in funding over three years so they can put the right services in place to help their communities.Public Health England’s role in supporting local authorities undertake their public health functions is vital in reducing the levels of alcohol harm and supporting young people with parents who are alcohol dependent.As part of this Public Health England funded the “Alcohol and other Drug use: The Roles and Capabilities of Social Workers”. This guidance sets out the key roles for social workers in relation to substance misuse.

Alcoholism

Liam Byrne: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what estimate his Department has made of the proportion of children who are the children of alcoholics who go on to misuse alcohol.

Jane Ellison: This data is not available centrally.

Alcoholic Drinks: Misuse

Liam Byrne: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment he has made of which health and wellbeing boards are most effective in reducing misuse of alcohol; and if he will make a statement.

Jane Ellison: This data is not available centrally.

Alcoholic Drinks: Misuse

Liam Byrne: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, which 50 areas have the highest incidence of the misuse of alcohol; and if he will make a statement.

Jane Ellison: We do not have any reliable data centrally for how areas are broadly affected by alcohol misuse.We do have data from the public health outcomes framework indicator for hospital admissions where the main reason for admission was alcohol-related. Data for 2013-14 for each local authority is attached.



Alcohol related hospital admissions 2013-14
(Word Document, 22.02 KB)

Alcoholic Drinks: Misuse

Liam Byrne: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what guidance his Department has issued to local authorities on steps to tackle alcohol misuse.

Jane Ellison: Local authorities are responsible for assessing local need for alcohol prevention and treatment services and commissioning interventions and services based on that need. Public Health England (PHE) works closely with local authorities – via nine regional centres – by providing advice, support and evidence-based guidance in a range of public health issues, including alcohol misuse.An example of this is the support PHE gives to local authority commissioners with the joint strategic needs assessment (JSNA) process and their local joint health and wellbeing strategies. The annual JSNA support pack from PHE covers four topics including alcohol harm prevention, treatment and recovery. For more information, see the pack which is available online at:http://www.nta.nhs.uk/healthcare-JSNA.aspx

Health

Liam Byrne: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, when he plans next to update the public health outcomes framework.

Liam Byrne: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, when the consultation on the Public Health Outcomes Framework 2016-17 will begin.

Jane Ellison: The consultation on updating the Public Health Outcomes Framework was published on 3 September and closed on 2 October. We are considering the responses and intend to publish our proposals in due course.

Alcoholism

Liam Byrne: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what estimate his Department has made of the number of alcoholics in each local authority area.

Jane Ellison: Data on numbers of alcohol-dependent people is not currently available by local authority.The Department has commissioned the University of Sheffield to produce local authority estimates and their report is expected to be published in spring 2016.

Autism: Carshalton and Wallington

Tom Brake: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps (a) his Department and (b) NHS England is taking to ensure that autism diagnosis waiting times for (i) children and (ii) adults in Carshalton and Wallington constituency meet NICE guidance.

Mr David Anderson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps (a) his Department and (b) NHS England are taking to ensure that autism diagnosis waiting times for (i) children and (ii) adults in Blaydon meet NICE guidance.

Harry Harpham: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps (a) his Department and (b) NHS England is taking to ensure that autism diagnosis waiting times for (i) children and (ii) adults in Sheffield Brightside meet NICE guidance.

Alistair Burt: The Department has discussed with NHS England the difficulties that people on the autistic spectrum can have in getting an appropriate diagnosis in a timely manner. With support from the Department, NHS England and the Association of Directors of Social Services will undertake a series of visits to clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) to gather information that can be shared between areas that have arrangements in place to meet National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) Quality Standard 51 Autism: support for commissioning and those that do not, with the aim of supporting more consistent provision. These NICE guidelines already recommend that there should be a maximum of three months between a referral and a first appointment for a diagnostic assessment for autism. We expect the National Health Service to be working towards meeting the recommendations.NHS Newcastle Gateshead CCG is working with Northumberland, Tyne and Wear NHS Foundation Trust to refine their autism pathway, from diagnosis through to therapy and support if appropriate, to be in line with the NICE recommendations. In October 2013, Sheffield CCG commissioned a service to be NICE compliant. However, the service has received a higher volume of referrals than had been anticipated, and is currently the subject of a review to ensure the right model and level of service is delivered in Sheffield.We are not aware of any issues in Carshalton and Wallington.

Alcoholism

Liam Byrne: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what forecast his Department has made of the cost of alcoholism over the next 20 years.

Jane Ellison: Estimates for the cost of alcoholism over the next 20 years are not available centrally.

Alcoholism

Liam Byrne: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what estimate he has made of the number of children who are the children of alcoholics in each local authority area.

Jane Ellison: This data is not available centrally.

Diabetes

Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what estimate he has made of the number of people in each county who have diabetes.

Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what estimate he has made of the number of people (a) diagnosed and (b) currently undiagnosed with diabetes in (i) England, (ii) Wales, (iii) Scotland and (iv) Northern Ireland.

Jane Ellison: The information on estimates of people in each county who have diabetes is not available in the format requested. The table below shows the estimated number of people with diabetes for upper tier district authorities. The estimates ranges from 5.4% in the City of London, to 10.7% in Brent.Estimated ranges of people with diabetes for upper tier district authorities for 20142014NumberPrevalenceEngland3,279,9257.5%Buckinghamshire CC28,9867.1%Cambridgeshire CC35,2156.7%Cumbria CC33,8798.0%Derbyshire CC48,8647.6%Devon CC52,6298.1%Dorset CC30,0608.7%East Sussex CC37,8598.6%Essex CC87,2027.2%Gloucestershire CC36,8777.4%Hampshire CC77,0737.1%Hertfordshire CC62,0796.8%Kent CC90,1957.5%Lancashire CC76,3497.8%Leicestershire CC40,5357.4%Lincolnshire CC48,3388.0%Norfolk CC59,4067.9%Northamptonshire CC41,4757.1%North Yorkshire CC39,2077.7%Nottinghamshire CC49,4947.5%Oxfordshire CC35,3766.6%Somerset CC36,0528.0%Staffordshire CC52,9567.6%Suffolk CC47,8357.7%Surrey CC62,8286.8%Warwickshire CC34,2557.5%West Sussex CC52,7617.8%Worcestershire CC36,2877.8%City of London LB6935.4%Barking and Dagenham LB9,9427.5%Barnet LB23,4938.2%Bexley LB13,7167.3%Brent LB21,49710.7%Bromley LB18,6767.2%Camden LB12,7586.1%Croydon LB23,7378.5%Ealing LB22,7658.8%Enfield LB19,2338.2%Greenwich LB13,3307.3%Hackney LB13,8828.1%Hammersmith and Fulham LB9,1206.5%Haringey LB14,3167.7%Harrow LB18,5679.6%Havering LB14,7467.5%Hillingdon LB16,5097.6%Hounslow LB16,3118.3%Islington LB10,3896.3%Kensington and Chelsea LB11,5157.6%Kingston upon Thames LB9,1196.2%Lambeth LB16,0696.6%Lewisham LB15,7997.1%Merton LB11,7516.6%Newham LB17,95010.1%Redbridge LB19,3268.8%Richmond upon Thames LB10,3456.3%Southwark LB16,7096.5%Sutton LB11,1496.9%Tower Hamlets LB14,3607.2%Waltham Forest LB14,9198.5%Wandsworth LB14,2325.8%Westminster LB15,3546.4%Bolton MD17,9058.4%Bury MD11,0547.5%Manchester MD27,0516.5%Oldham MD14,3688.4%Rochdale MD13,6088.4%Salford MD13,2126.9%Stockport MD17,2257.4%Tameside MD14,0017.9%Trafford MD12,7327.2%Wigan MD18,7857.4%Knowsley MD9,2467.7%Liverpool MD26,2817.1%St Helens MD11,1197.6%Sefton MD17,8518.0%Wirral MD19,5087.9%Barnsley MD14,4567.6%Doncaster MD18,7827.9%Rotherham MD16,4347.8%Sheffield MD33,0607.0%Gateshead MD12,1587.6%Newcastle upon Tyne MD16,0346.6%North Tyneside MD12,2427.3%South Tyneside MD9,9827.8%Sunderland MD17,5527.5%Birmingham MD72,5768.8%Coventry MD20,6097.9%Dudley MD20,3618.0%Sandwell MD22,2449.5%Solihull MD13,1097.7%Walsall MD18,3409.0%Wolverhampton MD19,0909.8%Bradford MD35,1368.5%Calderdale MD12,9877.7%Kirklees MD27,0648.1%Leeds MD45,5966.5%Wakefield MD20,7637.6%Hartlepool UA5,6907.6%Middlesbrough UA8,7917.7%Redcar and Cleveland UA9,1218.1%Stockton-on-Tees UA11,3307.1%Darlington UA6,3147.6%County Durham UA32,4557.6%Northumberland UA21,0488.0%Cheshire East UA22,2357.3%Halton UA7,1687.5%Warrington UA11,5607.0%Cheshire West and Chester UA19,6177.2%Blackburn with Darwen UA9,5258.9%Blackpool UA9,5418.4%Kingston upon Hull UA15,4116.8%East Riding of Yorkshire UA23,1687.8%North East Lincolnshire UA9,9277.7%North Lincolnshire UA10,8727.9%York UA10,8736.1%Derby UA15,4337.5%Leicester UA24,4599.5%Rutland UA2,3797.5%Nottingham UA16,9586.4%Herefordshire County UA12,8318.4%Telford and Wrekin UA9,8347.4%Shropshire UA19,8678.0%Stoke-on-Trent UA15,3587.9%Bath and North East Somerset UA9,9076.4%Bristol UA23,1895.9%North Somerset UA14,0947.6%South Gloucestershire UA14,4226.3%Cornwall UA37,8938.1%Plymouth UA14,8056.7%Torbay UA9,9478.6%Bournemouth UA10,0067.1%Poole UA9,0527.6%Swindon UA11,4436.7%Wiltshire UA27,7247.2%Peterborough UA10,8507.6%Luton UA12,6858.2%Bedford UA10,2287.7%Central Bedfordshire UA14,4946.7%Southend-on-Sea UA10,6467.7%Thurrock UA8,9516.7%Medway UA14,5487.0%Bracknell Forest UA5,8336.1%West Berkshire UA8,4456.7%Reading UA7,7896.0%Slough UA9,1818.8%Windsor and Maidenhead UA8,2566.9%Wokingham UA8,4086.1%Milton Keynes UA13,3976.7%Brighton and Hove UA13,9336.3%Portsmouth UA10,8626.1%Southampton UA12,6226.0%Isle of Wight UA10,6148.5%Source: Yorkshire and Humber Public Health Observatory Diabetes Prevalence ModelDiagnosed diabetes prevalence across the four nations of the United Kingdom are taken from the Quality and Outcomes Framework (QOF) and represents all patients age 17 and older who have been diagnosed with diabetes and included on general practitioner registers.In 2013/14, QOF showed that there were 3.3 million people aged 17 years and older with diagnosed diabetes with equals 6.2% of this age group. The break down by country can be found in the following table:Diagnosed diabetes across the four nations of the United Kingdom -2013/14Number%England2,814,0046.2%Wales177,2126.9%Scotland259,9865.9%Northern Ireland81,8675.3%United Kingdom3,333,0696.2%Source: Quality and Outcomes Framework (Health and Social Care Information Centre)Public Health England’s diabetes prevalence model estimates total diabetes prevalence for England and for all local authorities and clinical commissioning groups in England. The model reflects the prevalence of diabetes (diagnosed and undiagnosed) and adjusts for the age, sex, ethnic group and deprivation pattern of the local population.The estimated total diabetes prevalence using the diabetes prevalence model is 7.5% in England in 2014.

Mental Health

Mr Barry Sheerman: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps he is taking to ensure that (a) his Department and (b) the NHS gives mental health parity of esteem with physical health.

Alistair Burt: We continue to take mental health as seriously as physical health and to hold the National Health Service to account for achieving the objectives set out in the NHS Mandate, ensuring that mental and physical health conditions are given equal priority. The Mandate makes clear that ‘everyone who needs it should have timely access to evidence-based services’.We have legislated for parity of esteem between mental and physical health via the Health and Social Care Act 2012.We have already expanded our world-leading psychological therapy services and we have invested over £120 million in order to introduce for the first time waiting times standards for mental health services from April 2015 – a very significant milestone on the road to parity. Next year we will invest £15 million into improving the provision of places of safety, in order to ensure that people in crisis receive assessments in appropriate premises, and not in police custody.We have made clear that each clinical commissioning group’s (CCG) spending on Mental Health should increase in real terms.NHS England’s published planning guidance for 2015/16 for commissioners made the expectation clear that each CCGs spend on mental health services in 2015/16 should increase in real terms, and grow by at least the same percentage as each CCG’s allocation increase.We will monitor this closely to ensure this happens.

Influenza: Vaccination

Andrew Gwynne: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how much his Department spent on seasonal influenza vaccination public awareness campaigns in 2014-15; and how much it plans to spend on such campaigns in 2015-16.

Jane Ellison: Public Health England’s annual seasonal flu vaccination programme campaign to educate the population about the risks of catching flu, the benefits of having a flu vaccination and promoting uptake of the flu vaccination, cost £1.6 million in 2014-15.For 2015-16, a joint campaign between Public Health England and NHS England launched on 15 October. This is part of a wider piece of activity to raise awareness of winter services, including flu messaging. £1 million is allocated to flu vaccination messaging.

Diabetes: Health Services

Mr Barry Sheerman: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment his Department has made of progress by the NHS on implementing the recommendations of the 17th Report of Session 2012-13 of the Public Accounts Committee, The management of adult diabetes services, HC 289; and if he will make a statement.

Jane Ellison: Treasury Minutes: progress report on the implementation of Government accepted recommendations of the Committee of Public Accounts - Sessions 2010-12, 2012-13 and 2013-14 includes the most recent update on progress made by the NHS on implementing the recommendations of the 17th Report of Session 2012-13 of the Public Accounts Committee, The management of adult diabetes services and can be found at the following link:https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/415600/48383_Cm_9034_Print_Ready.pdfThe management of adult diabetes services in the NHS: progress review, due to be published by the National Audit Office on 21 October, will further assess progress made by the NHS on implementing these recommendations.

Diabetes: Medical Treatments Abroad

Mr Barry Sheerman: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what comparative assessment he has made of uptake and use by the NHS of new treatments for people living with diabetes with health systems in other EU countries.

Jane Ellison: The Office of Health Economics (OHE) report International Comparison of Medicines Usage: Quantitative Analysis, published last year, showed that uptake of newer and more expensive drugs to treat diabetes was lower than comparator countries. However, uptake of more established therapies was considerably higher.It is important to note that high use of drugs does not mean more people are cured. There are a number of legitimate factors which influence usage, and therefore variation, such as populations with differing health needs. The Research and Development (RAND) Europe report International variation in drugs usage: an exploratory analysis, published at the same time as the OHE report – seeks to define some of these factors and can be found at the link below:http://www.rand.org/content/dam/rand/pubs/research_reports/RR800/RR899/RAND_RR899.pdfOur focus is on tackling unjustified variation where it exists.

NHS: Pay

Mr Andrew Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what recent assessment he has made of the effect of public sector pay restraint on (a) staff recruitment, (b) staff retention and (c) expenditure on agency staff in the NHS.

Alistair Burt: Over the last five years, neither the NHS Pay Review Body (NHSPRB) nor the Doctors and Dentist Pay Review Body (DDRB) which make pay recommendations to government for employed non-medical and medical National Health Service staff, have identified any significant recruitment and retention issues because of pay restraint or expenditure on agency staff. In fact there are 8,500 more full time equivalent doctors and 6,800 more nurses since 2010.In addition to consolidated and non-consolidated pay increases, over the last five years, just under half of all employed NHS staff also received incremental pay at an average of over 3% each year.The Government has said that it will fund public sector workforces for a pay award of 1% for four years from 2016/17. The NHSPRB and DDRB will make recommendations to Government for 2016/17 and in making their recommendations will take into account the funding available to the NHS and expenditure on the workforce, including temporary staffing through agencies. They will also consider how their recommendations might affect the retention, recruitment and motivation of all their remit group.It is recognised that the policy of pay restraint is challenging and difficult for NHS staff, however at a time of necessary decisions, the Government’s pay policy will help to ensure the NHS workforce is affordable and protect jobs.

Community Nurses: Children

Tulip Siddiq: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps he is taking to (a) address geographic inequalities in and (b) move towards comprehensive coverage for Community Children's Nursing provision; and if he will make a statement.

Jane Ellison: Community Children’s Nurses are commissioned by clinical commissioning groups (CCGs). Since the publication of Facing the Future Together, by the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health, the Royal College of Nursing and the Royal College of General Practitioners, CCGs are considering how Community-based Children’s Nurses can provide a safe, high-quality service that meets the health needs of every child and young person. This includes training Advanced Practitioners, with additional skills such as prescribing, and considering how children’s community nurses should support continuing care and new integrated arrangements for children with special educational needs and disability.

Food: Hygiene

Michael Fabricant: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what discussions he has had with the Welsh Government on (a) the mandatory display by restaurants of ratings and (b) empowering local authorities to charge restaurants for reassessment under the Food Standards Agency's food hygiene rating scheme; if he will bring forward legislative proposals to make the display of such ratings by restaurants mandatory; and if he will make a statement.

Jane Ellison: The Food Standards Agency is collecting evidence on the effectiveness of the mandatory display of Food Hygiene Ratings Scheme ratings. The Government will consider this evidence carefully once it is available.

Hospitals: Consultants

Tulip Siddiq: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what estimate his Department has made of the proportion of hospital consultants who opt out of weekend work.

Ben Gummer: We do not have data on consultants who opt out of non-emergency weekend working. Individual NHS trusts hold information on consultant working patterns.However, this information would not reveal how many individuals have relied on the opt out clause, which allows them to refuse to participate in some weekend work as part of their contract. This is because some rely on the clause to negotiate significantly higher rates of pay for additional work, rather than doing it for the rates payable under the national contract terms on which they are employed.In its 2013 report “Managing NHS hospital consultants” the National Audit Office (NAO) stated that “most trusts continue to use locally agreed rates of pay for additional work outside that agreed in job plans, as allowed for under the contract, for example to help reduce waiting times. This is likely to be linked to the fact that the contract allows consultants to refuse to work outside 7am to 7pm Monday to Friday.”The NAO reported that 91% of trusts who responded to its survey paid for additional work using locally agreed rates; and, on average, 71% of extra work was secured using these rates, costing up to £200 per hour. Based on the top and the bottom of the consultant pay scale at the time, contractual rates ranged between £36 and £64 per hour. Full details of the NAO’s report and survey findings can be found at:http://www.nao.org.uk/report/managing-nhs-hospital-consultants/Other practical effects of consultants’ ability to opt-out of non-emergency work at weekends and in the evenings are:- an effective veto over work at these times and over service changes;- a practical and financial barrier to scheduling consultants and developing and delivering cost-effective and high-quality services in evenings and weekends;- impacts on quality/patient care and on mortality rates – contributes to absence of senior decision-makers at the weekends; and- impacts on the quality of education and training of junior doctors, who provide the majority of care at these times, and have less exposure (including during the week, as a consequence of working patterns) to working with consultants.A report published in July 2015 by the Review Body on Doctors’ and Dentists’ Remuneration, which provides independent advice to the government, observed that the clause is “not an appropriate provision in an NHS which seeks to continue to improve patient care with genuinely seven day services, and on that basis we endorse the case for its removal from the contract”. The review body made this observation after considering evidence from a number of organisations, including from the Academy of Medical Royal Colleges and the British Medical Association (BMA). A link to the report is here:https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/review-body-on-doctors-and-dentists-remunerationTogether with NHS staff we must eradicate the ‘weekend effect’ of excess deaths in NHS hospitals and support hospitals to better plan services around the clock. The consultant contract needs to be modernised to support employers and doctors to improve patient care across the week.We are encouraged that the BMA Consultants’ Committee is working with NHS Employers to reform the contract, and have accepted the replacement of the opt out with safeguards as a starting point for final negotiations. We hope that consultants will vote to accept a modernised contract in the New Year.

Diagnosis

Jon Trickett: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps he is taking to improve rates of early diagnosis for life-threatening illnesses.

Jane Ellison: Public Health England (PHE) runs a range of national social marketing campaigns, based on the best available evidence, to raise awareness of the signs and symptoms of certain life-threatening illnesses and to therefore improve rates of early diagnosis. PHE works closely with the Department and NHS England to ensure that health care professionals are also targeted with campaign information to encourage earlier diagnoses and referrals.In addition PHE leads the NHS Health Check programme which aims to reduce premature mortality and morbidity and invites anyone aged between 40 and 74 who does not have a pre-existing condition for a check every five years. This programme presents an opportunity to prevent heart attacks and strokes and save lives each year. It can also help prevent people from developing diabetes and detect cases of diabetes or kidney disease earlier, allowing individuals to be better managed and improve their quality of life.

Infant Foods

Mrs Sharon Hodgson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, which agency is tasked with ensuring that mothers, infants and children are provided with adequate protection and support for appropriate feeding during emergencies; and if he will publish his Department's policy or guidance documents to outline the steps to be taken in that direction.

Jane Ellison: Local emergency responders including Police, Fire and Rescue Service, Ambulance Service and Local Authorities are required under the Civil Contingences Act 2004 to assess the likelihood and impact of emergencies occurring in their local area, and to put in place appropriate plans to respond to these emergencies. This includes arrangements to evacuate and shelter large numbers of people, including vulnerable groups such as mothers with young infants. The Government publishes guidance on evacuation and shelter for local responders (https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/274615/Evacuation_and_Shelter_Guidance_2014.pdf) which includes advice on the care and provision for vulnerable people.

Infant Foods

Mrs Sharon Hodgson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, which Minister in his Department is leading on infant feeding policy; for what reasons England has no ministerial infant feeding lead; and for what reasons England does not have a national infant feeding committee with measurable targets as suggested for all member states as part of the WHO Global Strategy on Infant and Young Child Feeding.

Ben Gummer: As Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Care Quality I have responsibility for breastfeeding (also called infant feeding) policy as I am the lead for maternity policy more widely. In addition, for clarity, the Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Public Health (Jane Ellison) leads on the related area of children’s health and also has responsibility for health visitors.The Department hosts a National Infant Feeding Steering Group which meets quarterly to promote evidence based policy and practice through communication and information sharing.The Government is committed to supporting breastfeeding through the Healthy Child Programme. Breastfeeding is included in the Public Health Outcomes Framework so that the improvements can be tracked, and action taken as needed.

Health Services: Lancashire

Mark Menzies: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps his Department is taking to provide sufficient health services in Lancashire to meet increased demand from new residents of large housing developments in Fylde.

Ben Gummer: It is the responsibility of local commissioners to plan, develop and provide NHS services according to the healthcare needs of their local populations.NHS England advises that both Fylde and Wyre borough councils have received feedback on their proposed housing development plans from the local clinical commissioning group (Fylde and Wyre CCG). We understand that this requested that planning policies acknowledge the need for existing primary care centres to expand to meet the needs of a growing local population. Should those existing sites not be capable of expansion, the CCG has requested support for new sites in those areas.

Prostate Cancer: Screening

Mr David Anderson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what progress has been made on implementation of a national screening programme for prostate cancer.

Jane Ellison: The UK National Screening Committee (UK NSC) advises Ministers and the National Health Service in all four countries about all aspects of screening policy.The UK NSC re-affirmed in March 2012 that a national screening programme for prostate cancer should not be offered. This is because:- The test for prostate cancer, the prostate specific antigen test, is not effective enough and does not identify a large proportion of men who in fact have prostate cancer;- A positive test will lead in most cases to a biopsy, which often does not give a definitive answer and leads to anxiety and to further investigations; and- Current research indicates for every 100,000 men at age 50 offered screening, 748 would end up being treated. The men accepting screening would have their lives extended on average by a day – while 274 men would be made impotent, 25 incontinent and 17 would have rectal problems as a result of the treatment.The UK NSC is currently reviewing its recommendation on whether a national screening programme for prostate cancer should be offered. Ministers expect to receive a recommendation shortly.

Breast Cancer

Matthew Pennycook: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, when he expects to publish mandated NHS data and related data flows to regional cancer registries in recurrent and metastatic breast cancer.

Jane Ellison: The National Cancer Registry Service, within Public Health England, recognises the importance of the collection of data on recurrent and metastatic breast cancer. Further work is being scoped by NHS England and Public Health England based on the recommendation in the recent Independent Cancer Taskforce report to establish robust surveillance systems to collect this data on all cancers.

Junior Doctors: Conditions of Employment

Mr David Anderson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what estimate he has made of the number of junior doctors likely to lose income as a result of proposed contractual changes.

Alistair Burt: The proposed contractual changes will be cost-neutral and average pay for junior doctors will not reduce. This is not a cost-cutting exercise and we are not seeking to save any money from the junior doctors’ pay bill. My Rt. hon. Friend the Secretary of State has given the British Medical Association a public, categorical assurance on this and made clear that the details of the new contract should be developed to ensure that the great majority of junior doctors are at least as well paid as they would be now.The proposed new contract for doctors and dentists in training will: ensure that pay relates more fairly to actual work done; increase basic pay, recognising the professional nature of the role in a seven day National Health Service and pay a higher rate for work at the most unsocial times

Radiotherapy

Mr Roger Godsiff: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, whether his Department plans to tender for additional proton beam therapy treatment providers.

Jane Ellison: The decision to commission services from additional proton beam therapy (PBT) centres would likely be triggered by an existing supplier no longer being able to deliver services and/or NHS England having capacity requirements that could not be met by the existing providers.In the event NHS England required additional PBT providers, these would be selected through a procurement exercise.There is currently no indication that NHS England will need to seek additional providers but it will, of course, keep this position under review.

NHS: Temporary Employment

Mr Roger Godsiff: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what forecasts his Department has made of the proportion of NHS (a) nurses and (b) doctors that will be recruited from agencies in each of the next five years.

Ben Gummer: The information requested is not held by the Department.

Psychiatry: Greenwich and Woolwich

Matthew Pennycook: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what proportion of Improving Access to Psychological Therapies referrals in Greenwich and Woolwich constituency received an assessment within 28 days in the last 12 months.

Matthew Pennycook: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what proportion of Improving Access to Psychological Therapies referrals in Greenwich and Woolwich constituency received an assessment within 90 days in the last 12 months.

Matthew Pennycook: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what proportion of Improving Access to Psychological Therapies patients in Greenwich and Woolwich constituency waited less than 28 days for treatment in the last 12 months.

Matthew Pennycook: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what proportion of Improving Access to Psychological Therapies patients in Greenwich and Woolwich constituency waited less than 90 days for treatment in the last 12 months.

Alistair Burt: The information is not collected in the format requested.The following attachment, Improving Access to Psychological Therapies contains referrals assessed in 28 and 90 days or less and referrals that waited 28 and 90 days or less to enter treatment, as a proportion of all referrals assessed between 1 April 2013 and 31 March 2014, for England and NHS Greenwich Clinical Commissioning Group.Data is not published at constituency level.



IAPT Referrals Data
(Excel SpreadSheet, 27.89 KB)

Health Services

Tulip Siddiq: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, with reference to his Department's response to e-petition No. 104334, what the evidential basis is of the statement that (a) if you are admitted to hospital on a weekend, you have 16 per cent. greater chance of dying and (b) the average earnings for a hospital consultant are £118,000.

Ben Gummer: The 16% figure is taken from a study published in 2012 in the Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine entitled ‘Weekend hospitalization and additional risk of death: an analysis of inpatient data’ by Freemantle et al. The authors analysed all hospital admissions in 2009-10 and found that patients admitted to hospital on a Saturday had a 11% increased chance of dying compared to a Wednesday, and patients admitted on a Sunday had a 16% increased chance of dying compared to a Wednesday.This analysis has recently been updated by the study’s authors to look at 2013-14 admissions. The latest study, published in the British Medical Journal in September 2015, found that patients admitted to hospital on a Saturday had a 10% increased chance of dying compared to a Wednesday, and patients admitted on a Sunday had a 15% increased chance of dying compared to a Wednesday.The figure of average hospital consultant earnings is an estimate of the derived average earnings of consultants per full time equivalent, and is based on data covering the 2013/14 financial year. The figure was published as part of evidence submitted by the NHS Employers organisation to the Review Body on Doctors’ and Dentists Remuneration ahead of their report published in July, ‘Contract reform for consultants and doctors and dentists in training – supporting healthcare services seven days a week’. The evidence is publicly available here:http://www.nhsemployers.org/your-workforce/pay-and-reward/pay/medical-pay/ddrb-evidence---in-detail

Department of Health: Pressure Groups

Chris Stephens: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what meetings his Department has had with representatives of (a) the Taxpayers' Alliance, (b) the Confederation of British Industry, (c) the Institute of Economic Affairs, (d) the Adam Smith Institute, (e) the Freedom Association, (f) the Politics and Economics Research Trust and (g) the Midlands Industrial Council in the last 12 months.

Jane Ellison: The information is not held centrally and could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.

Agency Nurses

Helen Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that the ceiling for agency nurse spending for each NHS trust will be made publicly available from 2015-16.

Alistair Burt: Monitor and the NHS Trust Development Authority currently have no plans to make publically available the ceilings for agency nurse spending for each trust in 2015-16. However, if members of the public wish to know this information then they can approach individual trusts for this information.The ceiling levels are available at the following website:https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/nursing-agency-rules

Congenital Diaphragmatic Hernia: Children

Nic Dakin: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps he is taking to ensure earlier diagnosis of congenital diaphragmatic hernia in babies and young children; and if he will make a statement.

Ben Gummer: The UK National Screening Committee currently recommends antenatal screening for congenital diaphragmatic hernia (CDH) as part of the Fetal Anomaly Screening Programme. CDH is primarily detected through the fetal anomaly ultrasound which is carried out between 18 weeks and 21 weeks of pregnancy.Research from around the world has shown that with current screening techniques only around 70% of cases of CDH can be diagnosed before birth and that those not diagnosed before delivery tend to be less severe and have better outcomes. The fetal anomaly screening programme in England continues to monitor the quality of the antenatal screening process for all such anomalies.A recent confidential enquiry focussed on CDH and a report of the findings was published in December 2014 by MBRRACE-UK on behalf of NHS England. This report considered the care provided for CDH cases diagnosed before and after birth, and considered all aspects of the care pathway following review of a sample of cases drawn from across the United Kingdom. The report highlighted certain aspects of practice that needed improvement, including the lack of evidence-based guidance for care. It recommended that consensus guidance is needed on the optimal management for the care and treatment for babies diagnosed with CDH and the management of late termination of affected pregnancies. It also flagged the inconsistent information provided to families which sometimes led to misunderstanding; for example the extent to which, with current technology, it is possible to diagnose CDH cases antenatally.A new neonatal surgical service specification is currently under development which should, once approved, lead to greater accountability and clearer practice in this area.

Doctors: Conditions of Employment

Toby Perkins: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment he has made of the effect that the proposed contract changes will have on the NHS's ability to retain doctors.

Toby Perkins: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment he has made of the effect of proposed new NHS contract arrangements on areas where doctors routinely work long hours.

Ben Gummer: The proposed new contract arrangements are informed by recommendations and observations by the independent review Body on Doctors’ and Dentists’ Remuneration (DDRB). The DDRB’s standing remit includes a requirement to consider the need to recruit, motivate and retain doctors.NHS Employers are working with the British Medical Association to finalise agreement on an amended consultant contract, which will provide fairer terms and conditions that are better suited to a seven day National Health Service and go further than the existing arrangements to reward those who contribute the most and who work the most onerous hours. The proposals include a suite of safeguards designed to protect the wellbeing of doctors and to support patient safety. This includes no requirement to work more than 13 weekends in a year – effectively 1 in 4 weekends - (employers’ proposal); and no requirement to work more than a 40 hour week without consent.This is part of a more professional contract overall that would support consultants as clinical leaders and engage consultants with the objectives of their employer. Features include a spot salary set at a rate that would allow consultants to reach a level of basic pay in an average of five years that would currently take 14 years, the introduction of locally driven performance payments that would reward excellent performance in year, would provide potential earnings of overall £120,000 for an average experienced consultant and offers three years of transitional protection for those who move onto the contract.The proposed new contract for doctors and dentists in training will introduce stronger limits on working hours with: 48 weekly hours on average (56 for those who opt-out of Working Time Regulations); a maximum of 72 hours in any week (lower than the current 91); no shift rostered to exceed 13 hours; no more than five long shifts consecutively; no more than four night shifts consecutively; and no more than seven consecutive on-call periods. It will also introduce work schedules tailored to individual educational needs and a strong system requiring the employer to review when hours or training opportunities vary from the work schedule.The contract will ensure that pay relates more fairly to actual work done; increase basic pay, recognising the professional nature of the role in a seven day NHS: and pay a higher rate for work at the most unsocial times. In addition, flexible pay premia will apply for: general practitioner trainees, to maintain current earning levels; other shortage specialties who would otherwise lose out under the new pay structure; those switching to shortage specialties; clinical academic trainees and public health trainees undertaking PhDs etc; and those undertaking approved academic/other work that benefits the wider NHS and improving patient care.

Doctors: Conditions of Employment

Toby Perkins: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps the Government is taking to reopen negotiations with the British Medical Association on proposed contract changes for doctors.

Ben Gummer: The British Medical Association (BMA) Consultants’ Committee has now returned to negotiations and we hope that consultants will vote to accept a modernised contract in the New Year. The Government hopes that the BMA Junior Doctors’ Committee will also return to negotiations on the same basis. My Rt. hon. Friend the Secretary of State has written to the Chair of the Junior Doctors’ Committee with guarantees to allay concerns that the BMA has shared with its members and the public. The letter has been published at:https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/health-secretary-jeremy-hunt-writes-to-jdc-chair-johann-malawana

Cancer: Health Services

Matthew Pennycook: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, when he expects to publish a detailed implementation plan for the new five-year cancer strategy for the NHS.

Jane Ellison: NHS England is currently working with partners across the health system to determine how best to take forward the recommendations of the Independent Cancer Taskforce report and put in place a governance structure for delivery.

Breast Cancer

Matthew Pennycook: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many women diagnosed with breast cancer under the age of 40 in (a) England and (b) Greenwich and Woolwich constituency were offered a referral to a fertility specialist prior to commencement of their cancer treatment in the last three years.

Matthew Pennycook: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many secondary breast cancer patients in (a) England and (b) Greenwich and Woolwich constituency have access to a dedicated clinical nurse specialist.

Jane Ellison: The information requested is not collected.

Nurses: Pay

Sir David Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many nurses are employed in NHS hospitals on salaries of £35,000 or more.

Ben Gummer: Information from the Health and Social Care Information Centre (England only) shows that 33% of qualified nurses earned more than £35,000 in the year ending 30 June 2015. 15% earned more than £35,000 in basic pay only for the same period. This includes only nurses who worked for the full 12 months. It reflects the actual earnings of each nurse and is not adjusted for part-time working. It excludes nurses in General Practice.

Healthy Start Scheme

Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what proportion of eligible people took up Healthy Start vouchers in (a) Birkenhead, (b) the Liverpool, city region and (c) the UK in the last period for which figures are available.

Jane Ellison: The following table outlines the proportion of eligible people who applied for and received Healthy Start vouchers in Wirral (including Birkenhead), Liverpool, Liverpool City Region areas and the United Kingdom using the latest data covering a four week period. The take up rate is therefore a snapshot rather than an average of all four week cycles during an annual period.Cycle No. 161 Covering Period: 24 August - 20 September 2015AreaRecipientsEligibleTake UpLiverpool5,2506,55780%Halton1,1411,54472%Knowsley1,8592,28780%Sefton1,7552,34475%St Helens1,5852,00379%Wirral (Birkenhead included)2,8343,50980%UK430,620585,99072%Birkenhead PostcodesBeneficiaries (by Postal Sector)Under OneOver OnePregnantBeneficiary Child with Pregnant MotherCH415551273874167CH426071354324051The numbers of families eligible and the take up rate for Healthy Start are not available below local authority level, so the figures for Birkenhead are included as part of the overall figures for Wirral. Numbers of beneficiaries for Birkenhead using postcode data are provided. All eligible people are contacted by the Healthy Start Issuing Unit and are invited to apply. The Department also publicises the scheme via the Healthy Start website and helpline.

Nurses: Migrant Workers

Sir David Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many nurses from non-European Economic Area countries granted Tier 2 visas between 6 April 2012 and 5 April 2013 and employed on an annual salary of less than £35,000 are employed by (a) Southend University Hospital NHS Foundation Trust and (b) Essex teaching hospitals.

Sir David Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many people employed by Southend Hospital under Tier 2 visas from outside the European Economic Area are earning less than £35,000; and if he will make a statement.

Ben Gummer: This information is not collected centrally.

Immigration Controls: Departmental Coordination

Sir David Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, whether his Department was consulted by the Home Office on the impact assessment for the proposals that Tier 2 visa immigrants from outside the European Economic Area must be earning £35,000 or more to qualify for indefinite leave to remain in the UK; and if he will make a statement.

Sir David Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what recent discussions he has had with the Secretary of State for the Home Department on proposals that Tier 2 visa immigrants from outside the European Economic Area must be earning £35,000 or more to qualify for indefinite leave to remain in the UK; and if he will make a statement.

Mark Pritchard: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he will discuss with the Home Secretary potential means to increase the number of visas from non-EU countries for essential workers within the NHS.

Ben Gummer: The Secretary of State for Health and the Home Secretary have discussed the Government’s policy on immigration when it has been raised at internal government meetings.The Home Secretary asked the Migration Advisory Committee (MAC) to review the operation of the Tier 2 route of entry into the United Kingdom and they held a public consultation, which closed on 25 September 2015.However, on 15 October 2015 the Home Secretary announced that the Tier 2 restrictions will be temporarily changed for nurses so that they can be recruited from outside the European Economic Area (EEA) to ensure safe staffing levels across the National Health Service.Nurses will be added to the Government’s Shortage Occupation List (SoL) on an interim basis. The temporary rule change, which will apply to applications considered from December, will mean that nurses from outside the EEA who apply to work in the UK will have their applications for nursing posts prioritised.While nurses remain on the SoL they will be exempt from the requirement to earn £35,000. The exemption will continue to apply whilst the role is on the SoL.The Home Secretary has also asked the MAC to carry out a review of the evidence about whether nurses should remain on the SoL and to report back to the Home Office by 15 February 2016.

NHS: Standards

Sir David Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, whether the mechanisms used by NHS England to collect information on patient experience include metrics on (a) shared decision-making and (b) self-management.

Ben Gummer: NHS England collects patient experience information through a programme of national patient experience surveys, which depending on the survey, are managed by either NHS England or the Care Quality Commission.National surveys containing questions that can be used to assess the extent to which patients feel they are being involved in shared decision-making include: the National Survey of Bereaved People, the Cancer Patient Experience Survey, the GP Patient Survey, and surveys in accident and emergency, maternity, mental health and inpatient settings.Questions asking patients about their view and support to self-manage are included in both the Cancer Patient Experience Survey and the GP Patient Survey and in addition, NHS England is testing the use of a Patient Activation Measure within the National Health Service, to support self-management and person centred care.

Ophthalmic Services

Sir David Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many stakeholders responded to the consultation on the Call to Action on improving eye health and provision of NHS eye health services.

Sir David Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, for what reason NHS England has not published its report on the stakeholder responses and findings of the Call to Action on improving eye health and provision of NHS eye health services.

Sir David Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how much was spent (a) in total and (b) on consultancy and engagement events for the Call to Action on improving eye health and provision of NHS eye health services.

Alistair Burt: NHS England received 330 responses to the Call to Action on improving eye health and provision of NHS eye health services.The total identifiable spend by NHS England on the Call to Action was £34,184. This consisted of £25,950 for engagement events and £8,234 for the compilation of responses. Figures provided are exclusive of VAT. No consultants were employed.There are no current plans for NHS England to publish a report on the Call to Action, however, the findings have been discussed with commissioners and stakeholders. Work is underway to develop local and national responses to the findings as part of NHS England business plan for 2016/17.

Clinical Commissioning Groups

Sir David Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what (a) financial and (b) environmental guidance NHS England provides to clinical commissioning groups on delivering sustainable healthcare in England.

Alistair Burt: In its mandate for NHS England, the Government sets a clear objective for NHS England to work with others to secure unprecedented improvements in value for money across the NHS in order to maximise resources for frontline patient care.NHS England has responsibility for clinical commissioning group (CCG) allocations. While NHS England does not set explicit financial savings targets for commissioners, CCGs are required to manage their expenditure within their allocation whilst meeting the business rules as set out in the planning guidance, which include setting aside a 0.5% contingency and planning for 1% of their allocation to be invested non-recurrently. To demonstrate that the requirements of the planning guidance have been fulfilled, a CCG is required to submit clear and credible plans that are financially sustainable. Tools are available to support CCGs in establishing whether they are applying their allocation in a financially sustainable way.With regard to environmental guidance, in January 2014 the Sustainable Development Unit (SDU) for NHS England and Public Health England launched a Sustainable Development Strategy for the NHS, Public Health and Social Care System. The Strategy is complemented by a number of specific modules, one of which focuses on commissioning and procurement.There is guidance on the SDU website on how CCGs can embed sustainable development in all the work they do, especially as commissioners of services and local system leaders. This guidance was written jointly by the SDU and the Royal College of General Practitioners.Service Condition 18 of the he NHS Standard Contract 2015-16, which is mandated by NHS England for use by commissioners for all contracts for healthcare services other than for primary care, relates to sustainable development. The clause requires providers to take all reasonable steps to minimise their adverse impact on the environment and to maintain a sustainable development plan.

Chronic Illnesses

Sir David Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what progress NHS England has made on making care for people with long-term conditions (a) more personalised and (b) better coordinated in the last year.

Jane Ellison: NHS England’s Five Year Forward View sets out a number of high level objectives that will support better long term condition (LTC) care. Delivery of these objectives is being supported in a number of ways across NHS England and with partners. These include improving professional and public awareness of person centred co-ordinated care and supporting commissioners through the development of a LTCs commissioning toolkit, a LTC dashboard and personalised care and support planning handbooks.In January 2015 NHS England and the Coalition for Collaborative Care published the personalised care and support planning handbooks which were coproduced with representatives from commissioning organisations, care practitioners, patients, carers and policy experts. The handbooks provide practical information and theory on how to introduce personalised care and support planning and encourage reflection and innovation for local approaches to implementation and include supplementary information for commissioners, advice on practical delivery and effective multi-disciplinary working. The Integrated Personal Commissioning Programme, a joint NHS England and Local Authority led programme, began in April 2015 and aims to better coordinate an individual’s health and social care funding, giving them more control over how this money is used through person-centred care planning and personal budgets.NHS England is taking steps to roll out personal health budgets which will offer people with LTCs more choice and control over the care and support they receive.

Chronic Illnesses: Digital technology

Sir David Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps NHS England is taking to increase the use of e-consultations in the management of long-term conditions.

Sir David Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment he has made of the potential of existing digital technologies to (a) improve care for people with long-term conditions and (b) empower patients who are not yet digitally enabled.

Jane Ellison: It is estimated that around 9.5 million people in the United Kingdom lack basic digital literacy skills and 6.5 million have never been online in their lives. Those experiencing digital exclusion tend to be older, poorer, and are more likely to be disabled than the rest of the population. Digital health training has the potential to reduce demand on face-to-face health services by helping people identify the most appropriate way to seek non urgent medical advice. It can also empower people who have a long term condition (LTC) with the knowledge to better manage their health.NHS England is working on building digital skills for people who have never used the internet as part of its Widening Digital Participation. This provides assisted digital access in community settings such as libraries, community centres and general practitioner practices. Since 2013, NHS England has been working with a social enterprise, the Tinder Foundation, to support people in getting online and gaining basic digital skills for their own health. To date over 250,000 people have been engaged in the Widening Digital Participation programme.In November 2014, the National Information Board published Personalised Health and Care 2020. This sets out how the NHS and social care will harness the information revolution to support the delivery of high quality safe and effective treatment and new models of care that will provide more integrated and co-ordinated care closer to home.People living with LTCs will have the opportunity to take greater agency and control over their own health and wellbeing by utilising bespoke endorsed apps, using remote and assistive technologies, accessing key information in their care record and drawing that information into a personal health record. Mobile digital technology can support clinicians to enable patient self-care, access expertise and increase capacity via virtual consultations, and utilise decision support tools.

Prisons: Mental Health Services

Mr Laurence Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what recent assessment he has made of the effectiveness of the roll-out of the Liaison and Diversion services schemes; and if he will make a statement.

Ben Gummer: Liaison and Diversion (L&D) services operate by referring offenders who are identified as having mental health issues, learning disabilities, substance misuse and other vulnerabilities such as homelessness, into appropriate treatment and support services. L&D services also share appropriate information with justice agencies to assist with justice decisions.NHS England commissions L&D services and since April 2015 services have been available to over 50% of the English population. The Department of Health commissioned RAND Europe to conduct an independent evaluation of L&D services. This evaluation will form part of the Full Business Case for national roll out of L&D services, to be submitted to HM Treasury in autumn 2015.

Nurses: Migrant Workers

Sir David Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what recent representations he has received from the government of the Philippines on proposals that Tier 2 visa immigrants from outside the European Economic Area must be earning £35,000 or more to qualify for indefinite leave to remain in the UK; and if he will make a statement.

Sir David Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what recent discussions his Department has had with the government of the Philippines about the potential effects on the NHS of proposals that Tier 2 visa immigrants from outside the European Economic Area must be earning 35,000 or more to qualify for indefinite leave to remain in the UK; and if he will make a statement.

Ben Gummer: The Department has had no recent discussions with, or received representations from, the government of the Philippines about the effects of proposals that Tier 2 visa immigrants from outside the European Economic Area must be earning £35,000 or more to qualify for indefinite leave to remain in the United Kingdom.However, on 15 October 2015 the Home Secretary announced that the Tier 2 restrictions will be temporarily changed for nurses so that they can be recruited from outside the European Economic Area (EEA) to ensure safe staffing levels across the National Health Service.Nurses will be added to the Government’s Shortage Occupation List (SoL) on an interim basis. The temporary rule change, which will apply to applications considered from December, will mean that nurses from outside the EEA who apply to work in the UK will have their applications for nursing posts prioritised.While nurses remain on the SoL they will be exempt from the requirement to earn £35,000. The exemption will continue to apply whilst the role is on the SoL.The Home Secretary has also asked the MAC to carry out a review of the evidence about whether nurses should remain on the SoL and to report back to the Home Office by 15 February 2016.

Drinks: Sugar

Mr Laurence Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps he is taking to reduce the sugar content of carbonated drinks; and if he will make a statement.

Jane Ellison: We have accepted the recommendations from experts earlier this year that we should halve our daily intake of sugar and we will put forward our plans for action in this area in our childhood obesity strategy in the coming months.Measures by industry to reduce calories including sugar are also important components in any approach to reduce obesity. Some parts of industry have already taken a range of actions to reduce sugar in their soft drinks, but the challenge to make further progress remains.

Nurses: Migrant Workers

Sir David Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many nurses from the Philippines are currently employed in NHS hospitals on salaries of £35,000 or more; and if he will make a statement.

Ben Gummer: Information from the Health and Social Care Information Centre (England only) shows that 233 (headcount) qualified nursing, midwifery and health visiting staff from the Philippines earned £35,000 or more, as of June 2015.

Carers: Part-time Employment

Mr Roger Godsiff: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what support or respite care is available to full-time carers who wish to work part-time in addition to their caring responsibilities.

Mr Roger Godsiff: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what training is available to (a) full-time carers and (b) full time carers caring for an adult with dementia.

Alistair Burt: Under the Care Act 2014, local authorities have a responsibility to support carers in a number of ways. Local authorities will be required to undertake carers’ assessments, based on the appearance of a need for support. An assessment must establish the impact of caring on the carer, and the outcomes they wish to achieve, including engaging in work, education, training or recreation. For the first time, local authorities have a duty to meet carers’ eligible needs for support: this may include access to training to support them in their caring role or support to maintain employment where this is a desired outcome.Through the Care Act 2014 local authorities are required to provide information and advice and universal preventative services for carers. Local authorities can also support the person in understanding other types of support available to them for example to seek to promote access to appropriate employment, education or training, which can be an effective way of maintaining independence.In May 2014, NHS England published an action plan NHS England’s Commitment to Carers, which includes a series of commitments around 8 priorities, among which are raising the profile of carers. The Department of Health has also made available additional funding of £400 million to the National Health Service between 2011 and 2015 to enable carers to take a break from their caring responsibilities to sustain them in their caring role. The carers’ breaks funding of £130 million for 2015 – 16 will also be in the Better Care Fund.In February 2015 the Government launched a joint Department of Health, Government Equality Office and Department for Work and Pensions investment of £1.6 million in pilots in nine local authority areas to explore ways in which people can be supported to combine work and care.We also fund the Carers Direct service which includes web-based information and advice for all carers through NHS Choices, as well as a telephone helpline service through which carers can be signposted to information. Carers Direct includes training materials that build on the Caring with Confidence programme – a time-limited national programme funded by the Department of Health to support the development of carer training, which closed in September 2010.On July 2015 my Rt. hon. Friend the Secretary of State (Mr Jeremy Hunt) announced that the Government will develop a new carers’ strategy that looks at the best of international practice and examines what more we can do to support existing carers and new carers. This will include consideration how best to support carers to maintain employment and of the training requirements of carers and whether current measures are fully meeting these.Specifically regarding carers of people with dementia, the Department of Health contributed to the funding of the Alzheimer’s Society’s ‘Dementia Guide’, designed to help guide people with dementia and their carers through their journey with dementia. The Guide provides useful information for carers, following a diagnosis of dementia, and includes advice to help people understand a diagnosis of dementia to enable them to live well with the condition.With Department of Health funding, the Royal College of General Practitioners has developed a Dementia Roadmap that can be accessed by families and carers. It is a web based platform that provides high quality information about the dementia journey alongside local information about services, support groups and care pathways, primarily to assist primary care staff to more effectively support people with dementia, their families and carers.The Department is supporting the Dementia Action Alliance’s Carers Call to Action and the establishment of a Life Story Network for family carers of people with dementia. The Department provided funding of £30,000 to the Life Story Network during 2014/15 to support the establishment of a new involvement network for family carers of people with dementia, which is being established as part of the legacy of the Dementia Action Alliance’s Carers Call to Action.NHS England’s 2015/16 Dementia Enhanced Service encourages GP practices to increase the health and wellbeing support offered to carers of patients diagnosed with dementia.

Primary Health Care: Translation Services

Mark Pritchard: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what the cost was of translation services in primary care provision in (a) England and (b) Wales in 2013-14.

Alistair Burt: The Department does not hold information related to translation services centrally. National Health Service organisations have a duty to follow equalities legislation. This includes making sure their communities can understand information about the NHS services and that patients and clinicians can communicate with each other.

NHS: Occupational Health

Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what provisions are in place to support and promote the mental wellbeing of the NHS workforce.

Ben Gummer: Employers across the National Health Service are responsible for the mental health and wellbeing of their staff.The Department commissions NHS Employers to help trusts improve staff mental health and wellbeing through advice, guidance and good practice[1].In addition, trusts have access to local data from the NHS Staff Survey, the staff Friends and Family test as well as local information to help them develop and implement local improvement plans.The recent launch of the How are you feeling NHS?[2] Toolkit by NHS Employers is aimed at enabling staff to talk more openly about their emotional health, improving the assessment of the impact emotional wellbeing has on staff and patients and enabling action planning to improve staff emotional health and wellbeing. Since it launched on 29 July it has had more than 16,000 views.[1] http://www.nhsemployers.org/search-results?q=supporting+staff+who+are+experiencing+mental+health+issues[2] http://www.nhsemployers.org/your-workforce/retain-and-improve/staff-experience/health-work-and-wellbeing/protecting-staff-and-preventing-ill-health/how-are-you-feeling-nhs-toolkit

Community Nurses

Sir Nicholas Soames: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many district nurses are (a) in training and (b) in service; and how many district nurses were (i) in training and (ii) in service in each of the last five years.

Ben Gummer: Clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) are responsible for local decisions on services for patients, informed by a wide range of local clinicians. The shape of community nursing services is organised locally, following advice from clinicians. This commissioning process also takes into account the local authority’s views through the Joint Strategic Needs Assessment and the local Health and Wellbeing Strategy.NHS England is working with local CCGs to ensure that services are based on the need of the local population, within the resources available and on evidenced-based best practice.The latest available data from June 2015 shows that there are 5,033 district nurses in service. The following table contains the number of district nurses that were in service in each of the last five years.Year20102011201220132014District Nurses in service7,8137,1326,6115,8775,590Source: Health and Social Care Information Centre, Provisional NHS Hospital and Community Health Service (HCHS) monthly workforce statisticsThe following table contains the number of district nurses in training in each of the last five completed financial years, with the exception of the 2013/14 data which was not collected centrally by Health Education England. Data is not yet available for the 2015/16 financial year.Year2010/112011/122012/132013/142014/15District Nurses in training236177186n/a381Source: multi professional education and training budget monitoring returns

Uveitis

Greg Mulholland: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what recent representations (a) NHS England and (b) NICE have received from (i) drug companies and (ii) patient groups on the treatment of uveitis.

Alistair Burt: NHS England has received 12 letters from hon. Members and has met with key stakeholders, including patient organisations and charities such as the Royal National Institute of Blind People and Olivia’s Vision. This followed their decision in July not to fund Infliximab (Remicade) and Adalimumab (Humira), Anti-TNF drugs, as a treatment for adults and children with severe refractory uveitis.NHS England has also been in discussion with Abbvie, a Pharmaceutical Research and Development Company which is due to report on their trial of Adalimumab in adults in early 2016.The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) is developing technology appraisal guidance on the use of the drugs dexamethasone and sorolimus for the treatment of uveitis. NICE develops its technology appraisal guidance in consultation with a broad range of stakeholders and the representations it receives in the development of its guidance will be available on the NICE website at:http://www.nice.org.uk/guidance/indevelopment/gid-ta10007NICE has not received any representations about uveitis not related to this ongoing technology appraisal.

Uveitis

Greg Mulholland: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what estimate he has made of the number of people with uveitis; and what treatment is available for that condition at what cost.

Alistair Burt: Patients with uveitis are usually diagnosed and treated in primary care and no data is collected which would identify how many patients with this condition are seen and treated. Information provided by the Health and Social Care Information Centre for secondary care, shows that for 2013/14 there were 7,226 admissions to hospital where a diagnosis of uveitis has been recorded.The main treatment for uveitis is with steroids, which can reduce the inflammation inside the eye. In some cases additional treatment might be needed, such as immunosuppressants.The costs associated with these drugs are around £150 per adult patient per year and £35 per paediatric patient per year.

Junior Doctors: Conditions of Employment

Mr Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what recent discussions he has had with representatives of junior doctors about their hours and rates of pay.

Ben Gummer: Ministers receive regular representations from groups representing junior doctors.On 30 September 2015 the Secretary of State met Mark Porter, BMA Council Chair, and Dr Johann Malawana following Dr Malawana’s election as Chair of the BMA Junior Doctors Committee.Ministers also meet regularly representatives of Medical Royal Colleges on a range of issues. At a meeting on 30 September doctors working conditions were raised and the junior doctor training experience discussed.

Colorectal Cancer

Mr Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what the implications for his Department's policy are of the recent study funded by the Institute of Cancer Research and published in Nature Medicine of bowel cancer being regarded as four district diseases.

Jane Ellison: The Independent Cancer Taskforce published its report Achieving World-Class Cancer Outcomes A Strategy for England in July this year. The report proposes six strategic priorities for the next five years. These include rolling out a molecular diagnostics service which is nationally-commissioned and regionally delivered, enabling more personalised prevention, screening and treatment. NHS England is now working with partners across the health system to consider how best to take forward the taskforce’s proposals.

Junior Doctors: Conditions of Employment

Dr   Poulter: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, whether under the new junior doctor contract proposals, doctors will be prevented from receiving remuneration or other financial support for teaching advanced life support and other medical training courses.

Ben Gummer: The principle underpinning the relevant proposals is that junior doctors should not be paid twice for the same time. Junior doctors will be paid by their National Health Service employer for the contractual duties set out in their work schedules. They will be entitled to carry out fee-paying work in periods for which they are not being paid by the NHS employer and to receive payment for that, additional to the payment for their NHS employment. If a fee is paid directly to a junior doctor for work done during time when they are being paid by their NHS employer, the junior doctor will be required to remit the fee to the employing organisation.These proposals are – as in other respects – substantively the same as those agreed when the hon. Member was a Minister. As then, it is precisely to look at how these proposals would work that we wish to continue negotiations with the British Medical Association.

Carers

Barbara Keeley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, when he plans to publish a new national strategy for carers.

Alistair Burt: On 1 July 2015 my Rt. hon. Friend the Secretary of State (Mr Jeremy Hunt) announced that I will develop a new carers’ strategy.The cross-government strategy, led by the Department, will examine what more we can do to support existing carers and new carers.Our intention is to publish the new strategy towards the close of 2016. Development of the strategy will include consideration of the evidence about the economic impact of caring and its relationship with the health and care sectors and wider society as whole. It will also include consideration of both international and national good practice about support for carers. Work to develop the strategy will include seeking views from carers and stakeholders.

Social Workers

Barbara Keeley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what recent estimate he has made of the number of people working in social care (a) on zero-hours contracts and (b) paid less than the living wage.

Alistair Burt: The information requested is not collected centrally.

General Practitioners: Recruitment

Barbara Keeley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, with reference to paragraph 6.34 of his Department's Health Education England mandate: April 2015 to March 2016, published on 12 March 2015, what progress Health Education England has made on ensuring that a minimum of 3,250 trainees per year are recruited to GP training programmes in England by 2016.

Ben Gummer: Health Education England, NHS England, The Royal College of General Practitioners (RCGP) and the British Medical Association published Building the Workforce in January 2015, which sets out plans for increasing the GP workforce, backed by £10 million worth of funding. This includes actions to boost recruitment, encourage experienced GPs to stay in the workforce and support experienced GPs to return to practice after a period of time out of the workforce.

General Practitioners and Social Services: Inspections

Barbara Keeley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what proportion of (a) adult social care providers and (b) GP practices have been inspected by the Care Quality Commission since September 2013.

Ben Gummer: The Care Quality Commission (CQC) is the independent regulator of Health and Adult Social Care in England and is responsible for the inspection of providers. CQC has provided the following information.CQC monitors, inspects and regulates services to make sure they meet fundamental standards of quality and safety and it publishes what it finds, including performance ratings to help people choose care. From 1 October 2014 CQC formally introduced its new style of inspection across the organisation, which had been developed and tested since September 2013. Under its new approach CQC no longer inspects all locations each year, and have made this clear in its co-production and publications. This enables CQC to ensure its inspection reports are comprehensive and of high quality.Below are three tables which describe the number of active registered locations broken down by year and published inspection reports broken down by year and expressed as a percentage for CQC’s old and new style of inspections. The category Adult Social Care includes; care homes, domiciliary care, supported living services, extra care housing services and a range of other service types.CQC counts completed inspections as those where the final reports are now published.Table 1: Total number of GPs/out-of-hours locations and Adult Social Care locations that were registered and active, as at 1 April for each financial year.Location Type/Sector1 April 20131 April 20141 April 2015GPs/out-of-hours services8,6568,6528,614Adult Social Care25,28425,48925,383  Table 2: Total number of GPs/out-of-hours locations and Adult Social Care locations with published inspections under CQC’s old inspection approach, by financial year and expressed as a percentage.Location TypeFinancial year report publishedNumber of locations with a published inspection report% of total number of active locations with a published inspection report under the old approachGPs/out-of-hours services2013/141,59118.38%2014/155276.09%2015/16160.07%Adult Social Care2013/1423,09891.35%2014/158,71334.18%2015/1611220.48% 11 April 2015 - 15 October 2015 inclusive   Table 3: Total number of GPs/out-of-hours locations and Adult Social Care locations with published inspections under CQC’s new inspection approach, by financial year and expressed as a percentage.Location typeFinancial year report publishedNumber of locations with a published inspection report% of total number of active locations with a published inspection report under the new approachGPs/out-of-hours services2014/1591610.59%2015/1611,34915.66%Adult Social Care2014/152,72110.66%2015/1616,11824.10% 11 April 2015 - 15 October 2015 inclusiveNB: There is an overlap between the two approaches, due to the pilot phases of the new approach and also the lag between an inspection being carried out under the old approach and the publication date.

Junior Doctors: Job Satisfaction

Rushanara Ali: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps his Department has taken to improve the morale of junior doctors in the last 12 months.

Ben Gummer: My Rt. hon. Friend the Secretary of State wrote to the Chair of the Junior Doctor’s Committee Dr Johann Malawana on 8 October providingfour cast iron guarantees on contract reform. He said that he was not seeking to make savings from the pay bill, he wished to have a contract that improves patient safety, that reduces not increases the number of hours junior doctors work each week and which ensures that in future the great majority of doctors will be at least as well paid as now. In particular, he referenced negotiations with the British Medical Association (BMA) consultants committee to make sure there is proper consultant cover at weekends so junior doctors are better supported. He also wanted Health Education England (HEE) and the Royal Colleges to continue working with the BMA and NHS Employers to look at how the training experience can be improved more generally for juniors to better support work life balance including leave arrangements and recognising that juniors often have family responsibilities and choose to work part time. He asked the Junior Doctor’s Committee to re-enter negotiations and to work with others on the wider work on improving the training experience.Employers across the National Health Service are responsible for the morale of all their staff including junior doctors.The Department commissions NHS Employers to help trusts improve staff morale through advice, guidance and good practice on staff experience (which includes staff engagement1 and staff physical and mental health and wellbeing) which should lead to a happier workforce. The guidance they are promoting includes resources on medical staff engagement.The work the Department commissions from NHS Employers is aimed at helping embed the rights and pledges staff should expect from their employers as set out in the NHS Constitution2.The Chief Executive of NHS England, Simon Stevens announced on 2 September a major drive to improve health in the NHS workplace.This includes creating a positive working environment that listens to frontline staff, tackles bullying and discrimination, reduces stress and promotes health and positive mental wellbeing. [1] http://www.nhsemployers.org/2 http://www.nhs.uk/choiceintheNHS/Rightsandpledges/NHSConstitution/Documents/2013/the-nhs-constitution-for-england-2013.pdf

NHS: Administration

Justin Madders: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how much in real terms the NHS spent on administration in each year since 2011-12.

Alistair Burt: The information is not available in the format requested.

Department of Health: Paper

Justin Madders: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how much (a) his Department and (b) NHS England has spent on photocopier and printer paper since January 2013.

Jane Ellison: Department of Health and NHS England spend on photocopier and printer paper by calendar year from January 2013 up to and including 30 September 2015 is enclosed in the two tables below:Table 1Department of Health1 January 2013 - 31 December 2013£51,6851 January 2014 - 31 December 2014£92,8181 January 2015 - 30th September 2015£57,169Grand Total£201,671Table 2NHS England1 January 2013 - 31 December 2013£192,0971 January 2014 - 31 December 2014£184,6261 January 2015 - 30 September 2015£71,886Grand Total£448,609NHS England and the Department of Health are shared occupiers within Quarry House, Leeds. Whilst NHS England are unable to separately state their print costs for this building, these costs are counted towards the Department's spend figures.NHS England spend on all paper purchased excluding for Quarry House is taken from their X24 NHS spend ledger and therefore includes a large volume of patient communications within Primary Care Services.

Junior Doctors: Conditions of Employment

Dr   Poulter: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, whether under the new junior doctor contract proposals, doctors will be prevented from giving their time to (a) the British Medical Association, (b) the General Medical Council, (c) other healthcare, education and training organisations and (d) trade unions.

Ben Gummer: The proposals on contract reform do not change the situation in relation to these matters. Releasing doctors from National Health Service work commitments to undertake other activities remains a matter for the employer.These proposals are – as in other respects – substantively the same as those agreed when the hon. Member was a Minister.

Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

Postal Services: Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross

Dr Paul Monaghan: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what measures he has put in place to ensure that the Royal Mail Universal Service obligation remains active and in force across Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross constituency; and what information his Department holds on planned closures of post offices in that constituency.

George Freeman: Royal Mail, as the designated Universal Service Provider for the United Kingdom, is required under the Universal Service Obligation (USO) to deliver the universal service to all communities – urban and rural – throughout the UK – and that includes the communities of the constituency of Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross.However, some postcode areas around the country, which may include addresses in Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross, are subject to local exemptions under the USO. Such exemptions are only allowed where geographical conditions or other circumstances are considered to be exceptional by Ofcom, the independent regulator for postal services. These exceptions are carefully monitored by Ofcom and are subject to an established appeals process. Quality of service targets for all postcode areas are published quarterly by Royal Mail.Post Office Limited (POL) has no planned post office closures in the constituency. There is one possible planned change in Brora where there is a consultation underway to move the local post office to a new location in the community.

Science: South West

Ben Howlett: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what plans he has to expand the Bristol and Bath Science Park.

Joseph Johnson: The Bristol and Bath Science Park provides a world-class environment for innovative businesses to locate and grow their operations. The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) continues to work closely with the Homes and Communities Agency, the private sector development partners and local partners to ensure that the existing site is developed to its full potential.The Homes and Communities Agency manages the development on behalf of BIS. The Department is the beneficial owner of the site and the Homes and Communities Agency holds the freehold rights.A Local Steering Group has been established to steer the development, which includes representatives from the private sector development partners, the local universities (Bath, Bristol, and the University of the West of England), South Gloucestershire Council, West of England Local Enterprise Partnership, the National Composites Centre which is situated on the Science Park and is part of the High Value Manufacturing Catapult, Invest Bristol & Bath, the Homes & Communities Agency and BIS.

Universities: Economic Situation

Ben Howlett: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what recent assessment he has made of the effect of universities on their local economy.

Joseph Johnson: Higher education institutions play an important role in their local areas. Several universities have undertaken individual studies of their impact on their local area, and such studies have generally found positive impacts. Universities UK and others have also assessed the important impact of universities on national growth.

Higher Education: Arts

Ben Howlett: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what steps his Department is taking to encourage collaboration between higher education institutions and the creative economy.

Joseph Johnson: The Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) is sponsored by the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills and supports collaboration between Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) and the creative economy using a variety of mechanisms including knowledge exchange centres and collaborative doctoral studentships.AHRC will invest £16m during the period 2012-16 in the Knowledge Exchange Hubs for the Creative Economy. These Hubs, based in Bristol, Dundee, London and Lancaster, have drawn over 350 businesses, 320 academics and 170 third sector organisations into new forms of collaboration.Innovate UK encourages collaboration between HEIs and the creative economy through Knowledge Transfer Partnerships (8 currently being supported in the Creative Industries) and through support of the creative industries council’s strategy.

Arms Trade: Export Controls

Mr Barry Sheerman: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, to which countries UK weapons manufacturers are prohibited from selling arms.

Anna Soubry: The Government publish on GOV.UK, on a country by country basis, details of sanctions regimes, arms embargoes and restrictions on the export of strategic goods currently implemented by the UK.Arms embargoes ban the export of ‘arms and related material’. This covers military ammunition, weapons and goods. They may be imposed by a number of organisations, including the UN, the EU or the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe. They may also be imposed at national level.

Construction: Insolvency

Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of a policy of requiring cash retentions from the construction industry to be placed in a trust in the event of insolvency.

Nick Boles: The Government acknowledges that some people are unhappy with the system of retentions as it stands, but it is an embedded feature of the construction industry. Therefore, our general approach is to work with the industry through the Construction Leadership Council and its supply chain payment charter; endorsing its commitment to zero retentions by 2025.That will involve quite far-reaching changes to the way the sector works. With regard to shorter-term measure to require retentions to be held in trust, we must act on the basis of evidence. That is why the Government is commissioning an analysis of the cost and benefit of retention payments to inform future action.

Universities: Charities

Christian Matheson: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, if he will make it his policy to use the Charity Research Support Fund as a means to secure investment from the charitable sector into universities.

Joseph Johnson: The Government recognises the significant contribution made by charitable funders of research. The charity support element of Quality Related research funding, provided through the Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE), has provided £198m per year over the period 2011-16 to support institutions leveraging funding from the charitable sector.Decisions on any funding beyond 2015-16 will be subject to the outcome of the Spending Review later this year.

Research

Christian Matheson: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what assessment his Department has made of the effectiveness of the existing system for dual support for research in providing stability for research infrastructure and supporting competition of research grants; and what plans he has to review that system's use.

Joseph Johnson: The Government’s Productivity plan – “Fixing the foundations: Creating a more prosperous nation” - reiterated our commitment to excellence in science and research, facilitated through a dual support system.In 2013 the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills published a review of the dual funding system and research income across universities, including analysis of the ways in which UK academics can maximise their impact (available on Gov.uk).

Overseas Trade: Israel

Mark Pritchard: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what the level of trade was between Israel and the UK in 2013-14; and what steps he is taking to increase bilateral trade with Israel.

Anna Soubry: Bilateral trade in goods and services between the UK and Israel was £4.6 billion in 2013 (Source: Pink Book 2014). Figures for 2014 covering trade in both goods and services will be published by the Office for National Statistics on 30 October in the 2015 edition of the Pink Book.UK Trade and Investment engage in promotion activities which focus on promoting the UK’s financial services, healthcare and food and drink sectors to the Israeli business community.

Spacecraft: Nuclear Engineering

Mark Pritchard: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what collaboration is taking place between universities, space companies and the European Space Agency on developing nuclear engine technology for future spacecraft.

Joseph Johnson: European Space Agency has no active nuclear engine programme and we are not aware of any activities taking place with regards to such technology in the UK.

Higher Education: Emigration

Jeff Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what assessment his Department has made of the factors which explain why academics and researchers emigrate.

Joseph Johnson: Academic research is increasingly international and collaborative. The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills commissioned Elsevier to examine how the UK research base compares internationally, and what trends may influence the UK’s future standing.The report, 'International Comparative Performance of the UK Research Base – 2013'[1], highlighted UK as a focal point for global research collaboration and researcher mobility. It acknowledged international collaboration and researcher mobility as being core to the maintenance and further development of the UK’s world-class research base, and found that over 70% of active UK researchers were internationally mobile between 1996 and 2012.[1] https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/263729/bis-13-1297-international-comparative-performance-of-the-UK-research-base-2013.pdf

Arms Trade: Saudi Arabia

Mr Andrew Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, whether any arms export licences have been (a) suspended, (b) revoked or (c) refused in relation to Saudi Arabia in 2015.

Anna Soubry: No export licences have been suspended, revoked or refused in relation to Saudi Arabia in 2015.However, Saudi Arabia was “Rejected” on 3 multiple destination Open Individual Export licences (OIELs), with a recommendation in each case for the exporter to submit an application for a Standard Individual Export Licence (SIEL) for consideration on its own merits on a case by case basis.

Electronic Commerce

Mr Alistair Carmichael: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what steps the Government is taking to promote its statement of principles for online retailers.

Nick Boles: The UK wide Statement of Principles is on GOV.UK. At an adjournment debate last month I proposed a roundtable on online retail delivery charges. This is being planned for December. The statement of principles will be discussed at the meeting.

Electronic Commerce

Mr Alistair Carmichael: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, how much the Government has spent on promoting its statement of principles for online retailers.

Nick Boles: None, the Government published the UK wide Statement of Principles on Gov.UK. These endorse the principles drawn up by Citizens Advice Scotland, Citizens Advice and the General Consumer Council for Northern Ireland. The statement of principles has been promoted by those organisations to both retailers and consumers and a copy placed on their websites.

Origin Marking: Israel

Mark Pritchard: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what assessment he has made of the compatibility of the labelling of goods produced in Israeli settlements with World Trade Organisation law.

Anna Soubry: The Government is committed to ensuring that the UK observes its obligations under the WTO Agreements. The UK’s laws and practices on designations of origin for products produced in Israeli settlements are compatible with those obligations.

Arms Trade: Saudi Arabia

Mr Andrew Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, pursuant to the Answer of 1 July 2015 to Question 3711, how many arms export licences the Government has granted to Saudi Arabia subsequent to the information provided in that Answer; and what items were so licensed.

Anna Soubry: Licensing data shows 67 licences were granted to Saudi Arabia.Please note that data from licensing decisions made between 1 April and 30 June 2015 is scheduled to be published as Official Statistics at 9.30am on Tuesday 20 October 2015; and data from licensing decisions made between 1 July and 30 September 2015 is scheduled to be published as Official Statistics at 9.30am on 19 January 2016.

Plastic Bags: EU Action

Tulip Siddiq: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, if he will support an EU-wide ban on single-use plastic carrier bags.

Anna Soubry: The EU Carrier Bags Directive (EU 2015/720) already requires all member states to take measures to reduce the consumption of plastic carrier bags and provides for marketing restrictions such as bans.

Employment Tribunals Service: Females

Cat Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what assessment he has made of evidence from research on the proportion of women subject to pregnancy or maternity-related discrimination at work who issued an employment tribunal claim for pregnancy-related detriment or dismissal in each of the past five years; and what steps he plans to take to improve women's access to justice in respect of such discrimination.

Nick Boles: Pregnancy and maternity discrimination is unlawful and unacceptable, which is why the Government and the Equalities and Human Rights Commission jointly funded independent research into the perceived problem. This is the largest research of its kind to be undertaken in Great Britain. Interim findings were published in July 2015 and can be found at: http://www.equalityhumanrights.com/publication/pregnancy-and-maternity-related-discrimination-and-disadvantage-first-findings-surveys-employers-and-0.The final report, due to be published later this year, will inform the Government’s response.

Social Mobility

Phil Boswell: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, with reference to the report by the Social Mobility and Child Poverty Commission, Downward mobility, opportunity hoarding and the glass floor, published in June 2015, what assessment he has made of the implications for his policies of that report's findings that children from better-off families are hoarding opportunities in the education system in the labour market.

Nick Boles: This report by the Social Mobility and Child Poverty Commission raised some important issues around social mobility in the UK. As you will be aware the Government is concerned with this issue and plan to tackle this problem, as highlighted by the Prime Ministers’ Conference speech earlier this month.I would like to highlight however, that this report was largely focused on a cohort of British children born in 1970. So while it is important in illustrating that social mobility in the UK has been poor for a long period of time it bears no reflection on the Government’s current policies.Concerning current policies and their implications on social mobility it is clear that the achievement of over 2 million apprenticeships in the last parliament and the target of 3 million in this is helping to increase social mobility by providing young people with the skills they need in order to acquire professional careers. This policy alongside an increase in participation in higher education, helped by policies such as the removal of the student cap, has helped start to bridge the skills and educational gaps which were previously detrimental to social mobility.

Nuclear Power: Apprentices

Sir Nicholas Soames: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, how many apprentices there were in the civil nuclear industry in each financial year between 2010-11 and 2014-15.

Nick Boles: Information on apprenticeship starts in each academic year by sector framework is published in a supplementary table (first link) to a Statistical First Release (SFR) at the FE Data Library (second link).https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/467751/apprenticeships-starts-by-sase-framework.xlshttps://www.gov.uk/government/statistical-data-sets/fe-data-library-apprenticeshipsApprenticeship data are not available by industrial sector or financial year. Within an industry a learner may undertake a wide range of apprenticeship frameworks.

Groceries Code Adjudicator

Calum Kerr: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what the terms of the forthcoming statutory review into the role of the Groceries Code Adjudicator will be; if the Government will consider a case for an extension of the remit of the Adjudicator in order to better protect primary producers as part of that review; and what steps the Government plans to take prior to the statutory review in order to give the Adjudicator more powers to deal with issues in the supply chain (a) in general and (b) in the dairy sector.

Nick Boles: The terms of the Groceries Code Adjudicator (GCA) review are set out in section 15 of the GCA Act 2013. This states that the review must:(a) consider how much the Adjudicator's powers have been exercised; and(b) assess how effective the Adjudicator has been in enforcing the Groceries Code Under the Act the GCA’s role is to enforce the Groceries Supply Code of Practice which regulates the relationship between the ten largest supermarkets and their direct suppliers. There are no powers in the Act 2013 that would allow Ministers to extend the GCA’s jurisdiction. Changes to the GCA’s remit would require either a decision by the Competition and Markets Authority to conduct a further investigation into the sector or primary legislation to amend the 2013 Act.

Royal Mail

Chi Onwurah: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, pursuant to the Answer of 14 September 2015 to Question 9138, what assessment he has made of whether payment by his Department to Royal Mail in respect of the Postcode Address File constitutes state aid to Royal Mail.

Joseph Johnson: The Department does not consider payment to Royal Mail in respect of the Postcode Address File to constitute state aid to Royal Mail..There is a licence agreement in place between the Public Sector and the Royal Mail for the supply of address data. This agreement is managed and paid for by the Department, on behalf of public sector users. The agreement enables the Government to deliver procurement by acting as a single customer.. Like private sector users of the address data, the Public Sector pays the Royal Mail a royalty for the use of the data.Royal Mail’s licensing of this address data is regulated by OfCom under section 116 of the Postal Services Act 2000 which requires them to provide licences on fair and consistent terms to all.

Construction: Industry

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what steps he is taking to ensure that sufficient (a) skilled workers and (b) apprenticeships are available in the construction industry.

Nick Boles: Skills policy is a devolved area so the Devolved Administrations have complete flexibility over how to support businesses to ensure there are sufficient skilled workers. In England, apprenticeship reforms are empowering employers to design high quality apprenticeships to meet their skills needs. Employers in the sector are involved in developing new apprenticeships standards in over 20 construction-related occupations e.g. site management, construction technician, master builder bricklaying, steelfixing, on-site assembly and wood trades.Working with the Construction Leadership Council, the construction industry is developing a single entry point and a single image campaign to construction careers to enthuse young people about the opportunities the sector offers.The Construction Industry Training Board (CITB), a UK-wide body, returns over £130million a year to the construction sector to support apprenticeships and upskilling of the workforce across England and the devolved administrations - over £47million of that figure was spent in 2014 supporting 18,500 construction apprentices. The CITB also has strategic relationships in place with the Department for Work and Pensions and with services resettlement to encourage individuals to join the sector.The Apprenticeship Levy will link larger employers directly to its skills investment and promote the value, and drive the uptake, of apprenticeships. We are introducing the Immigration Skills Charge to encourage employers to invest in up-skilling our resident workforce and reduce reliance on migrant labour.

Students: Grants

Jim Fitzpatrick: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what assessment he has made of the effect on students living or studying in areas where household income is below the national average of the announcement by the Chancellor of the Exchequer on 8 July 2015 that maintenance grants will be discontinued from 2016-17.

Joseph Johnson: From 2016/17 all new eligible students living or studying in areas where household income is below the national average and who would otherwise have received a grant will be eligible for a maintenance loan, that increases the total maintenance support available to them by 10.3%.

Students: Loans

Peter Kyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what estimate he has made of how many Hove residents who have taken out student loans since 2012 will be affected by proposals to freeze the repayment threshold of the loans at £21,000.

Joseph Johnson: The Student Loans Company (SLC) administers student support for the UK Government and Devolved Administrations. Information on the number of borrowers is published annually by the SLC in the Statistical First Release ‘Student Loans in England: FY 2014-15’.http://www.slc.co.uk/official-statistics/student-loans-debt-and-repayment/england.aspxAt the end of the financial year 2014-15, there were 1,640 borrowers on post-2012 student loan arrangements who had been domiciled in Hove when they applied for financial support.

Arms Trade: Arab States

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, pursuant to the Answer of 12 October 2015 to Question 10357, how many arms export licences of what value and type have been issued for exports to (a) Saudi Arabia and (b) Yemen in 2015.

Anna Soubry: Please refer to gov.uk for the latest quality assured data published for Saudi Arabia and Yemen.

Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership

Sir Nicholas Soames: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what recent progress has been made on the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership; and if he will make a statement.

Anna Soubry: There continues to be good progress on the free trade agreement currently being negotiated between the EU and US, also known as the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP), in particular on the technical work which would underpin the final deal.The next negotiating round is taking place 19-23 October in the US.A trade and investment agreement between the EU and US offers an enormous economic benefit in jobs, investment and lower prices, worth potentially £10 billion a year to the UK Our ambition remains to reach political agreement during the Obama administration and this goal has been given renewed impetus by the completion of the Trans Pacific Partnership.

Ministry of Defence

Arms Control: Kurds

Mark Pritchard: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, if he will take steps with his EU partners and the US Department of Defense to improve the traceability and tracking of small arms and light weapons provided to the Kurdish Regional government for use in fighting against ISIS.

Michael Fallon: All military equipment exported from the UK, including the gifting of small arms to the Kurdistan Regional Government is subject to stringent assessment against the Consolidated EU and National Arms Export Licensing Criteria. This includes assessment of the end-use and likelihood of the equipment being diverted. As part of the provision of small arms to the Kurdistan Regional Government, the UK also requested and received assurances on handling, secure storage and useage from the Ministry of Peshmerga as the responsible Government authority in charge of end-use.The Government is committed to the UN Programme of Action to Prevent, Combat and Eradicate the Illicit Trade in Small Arms and Light Weapons (SALW). This is a core international instrument for tackling these issues and the Government is committed to its full implementation. The Government also supports the work carried out by the EU as part of its Small Arms and Light Weapons Strategy to combat the illicit accumulation and trafficking of SALW and their ammunition.

Clyde Naval Base

Brendan O'Hara: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to the press release of 31 August 2015, £500 million for Faslane, announced by the Chancellor, what provision has been made within that funding for investment in (a) roads, signage and communication links and (b) other surrounding infrastructure to support increased vehicular and personnel traffic on (i) the A814 and other roads leading to and from the Glen Douglas Munitions Depot and (ii) other roads in and around HM Naval Base Clyde.

Mr Philip Dunne: The project to make the necessary infrastructure adaptations to update the facilities at Her Majesty's Naval Base Clyde and Royal Naval Armament Depot Coulport to support all Royal Navy submarines is in its Assessment Phase. Until the assessments are completed it is not possible to give the level of detail requested.

Armed Forces: Housing

Mr Andrew Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many units of housing in the UK for military personnel are presently unoccupied in each local authority area.

Mark Lancaster: The number of Service Family Accommodation properties unoccupied in each area is shown below.Properties can be unoccupied for a number of reasons. These include:A margin of unoccupied properties is retained, in the short term, to ensure they are available when Service personnel apply for accommodation.A number of properties, which could otherwise be disposed of, are being retained pending the outcome of discussions on the future Defence requirement.Properties may show as being unoccupied during a gap between allocation to, and occupation by, a Service family.Where properties are leased from Annington Homes Ltd, not owned by the Ministry of Defence (MOD), and when the MOD no longer requires those properties the lease is terminated and the properties are handed back to Annington Homes Ltd. Some properties will be awaiting completion of that process.A number of unoccupied properties are affected by dilapidations and await repair or disposal. Local AuthorityUnoccupied Service Family AccommodationABERDEEN CITY3ABERDEENSHIRE2ANGLESEY, ISLE OF25ANGUS20ANTRIM AND NEWTOWNABBEY137ARDS AND NORTH DOWN178ARGYLL AND BUTE235ASHFIELD25ASHFORD26AYLESBURY VALE56BABERGH48BARNET28BATH AND NORTH EAST SOMERSET1BIRMINGHAM13BLAENAU GWENT5BRACKNELL FOREST57BRAINTREE5BRECKLAND90BRIGHTON AND HOVE2BRISTOL, CITY OF3BROADLAND4BROMLEY21BROXTOWE12CAMBRIDGE1CAMDEN16CANTERBURY181CARDIFF14CARLISLE17CENTRAL BEDFORDSHIRE194CHARNWOOD13CHERWELL68CHESHIRE WEST AND CHESTER50CHICHESTER35CITY OF EDINBURGH152COLCHESTER124CORNWALL61COTSWOLD30COUNTY OF HEREFORDSHIRE15CROYDON3DARLINGTON16DOVER117DUMFRIES AND GALLOWAY3DUNDEE CITY2EAST DEVON9EAST DORSET14EAST HAMPSHIRE303EAST LINDSEY16EAST RENFREWSHIRE3EAST RIDING OF YORKSHIRE34EILEAN SIAR1EXETER12FAREHAM25FIFE258FOREST OF DEAN52FYLDE74GEDLING10GLASGOW CITY6GLOUCESTER32GOSPORT122GREENWICH38GUILDFORD91GWYNEDD4HAMBLETON115HARROGATE196HARROW30HART68HAVANT2HERTSMERE43HIGHLAND59HILLINGDON113HOUNSLOW25HUNTINGDONSHIRE260KENSINGTON AND CHELSEA1KING'S LYNN AND WEST NORFOLK108KINGSTON UPON THAMES24LICHFIELD13LINCOLN1LISBURN AND CASTLEREAGH184MAIDSTONE19MEDWAY134MELTON16MERTON5MID AND EAST ANTRIM325MID SUFFOLK69MIDLOTHIAN30MOLE VALLEY8MORAY100NEW FOREST18NEWCASTLE UPON TYNE2NEWRY, MOURNE AND DOWN199NORTH AYRSHIRE11NORTH DEVON57NORTH DORSET67NORTH KESTEVEN179NORTH LANARKSHIRE3NORTH LINCOLNSHIRE3NORTH SOMERSET2NORTHUMBERLAND61NUNEATON AND BEDWORTH7OADBY AND WIGSTON2ORKNEY ISLANDS1PEMBROKESHIRE48PERTH AND KINROSS2PETERBOROUGH142PLYMOUTH97POOLE23PORTSMOUTH70POWYS75PRESTON2PURBECK39RENFREWSHIRE11RICHMOND UPON THAMES7RICHMONDSHIRE72RUGBY21RUNNYMEDE8RUSHMOOR135RUTLAND113SCARBOROUGH5SEVENOAKS7SHEFFIELD2SHEPWAY90SHROPSHIRE129SOMERSET19SOUTH AYRSHIRE7SOUTH CAMBRIDGESHIRE136SOUTH GLOUCESTERSHIRE29SOUTH HAMS17SOUTH KESTEVEN15SOUTH OXFORDSHIRE108SOUTH SOMERSET57SPELTHORNE20ST. EDMUNDSBURY61STAFFORD71STIRLING1STRATFORD-ON-AVON29SUFFOLK COASTAL53SURREY HEATH80SWINDON25TAUNTON DEANE11TEIGNBRIDGE1TELFORD AND WREKIN54TEST VALLEY63TEWKESBURY32THANET1THE VALE OF GLAMORGAN66THREE RIVERS19UTTLESFORD20VALE OF WHITE HORSE184WANDSWORTH13WEST BERKSHIRE50WEST DEVON3WEST DUNBARTONSHIRE4WEST LINDSEY16WEST OXFORDSHIRE76WESTMINSTER14WILTSHIRE1117WINCHESTER61WINDSOR AND MAIDENHEAD70WOKING7WOKINGHAM141WREXHAM1WYCOMBE145YORK37

Ministry of Defence: Official Residences

Steven Paterson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many places of residence his Department has owned in each of the last five years.

Mark Lancaster: The total numbers of Service Family Accommodation properties owned by Ministry of Defence (MOD), has increased between April 2013 and October 2015 largely due to newly built homes in Wiltshire, Aldershot and Catterick in support of the moves back from Germany through the Army Basing Programme. We estimated we would provide around 1,200 new homes in the 2013 announcement. Properties owned by MOD are shown below.As ofTotalOctober 20158,113April 20147,480April 20137,016April 20126,697April 20116,541April 20106,570

Air Force: Officers

Steven Paterson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many senior RAF officers of the rank of (a) Air Commodore, (b) Air Vice Marshall, (c) Air Marshall and (d) Air Chief Marshall are based in (i) Scotland, (ii) Wales, (iii) Northern Ireland, (iv) England and (v) other locations.

Steven Paterson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many Royal Navy officers of the rank of (a) Commodore, (b) Rear Admiral, (c) Vice Admiral and (d) Admiral are based in (i) Scotland, (ii) Wales, (iii) Northern Ireland, (iv) England and (v) other locations.

Steven Paterson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many senior army officers of the rank of (a) Brigadier, (b) Major General, (c) Lieutenant General and (d) General are based in (i) Scotland, (ii) Wales, (iii) Northern Ireland, (iv) England and (v) other locations.

Steven Paterson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many senior Royal Marine officers are based in (a) Scotland, (b) Wales, (c) Northern Ireland, (d) England and (e) other locations.

Mark Lancaster: The tables below show, by Service and Rank, the number of regular senior Armed Forces personnel and their stationed location across United Kingdom countries or other locations, as of 1 July 2015.Royal NavyRankCountryEnglandWalesScotlandNorthern IrelandOther LocationAdmiral1----Vice Admiral6---1Rear Admiral25-2*-1Commodore60-2-8*There is only one Rear Admiral based in Scotland, two were recorded as of 1 July 2015 due to handover of duties.Royal MarinesRankCountryEnglandWalesScotlandNorthern IrelandOther LocationLieutenant General2---1Major General2----Brigadier12---1ArmyRankCountryEnglandWalesScotlandNorthern IrelandOther LocationGeneral3---1Lieutenant General10---1Major General36-2-6Brigadier11712132Royal AIR FORCERankCountryEnglandWalesScotlandNorthern IrelandOther LocationAir Chief Marshal2----Air Marshal7---3Air Vice Marshal20---3Air Commodore63---8This information is updated quarterly and the next location report is due to be published on 26 November 2015. The current report can be accessed at the following link:www.gov.uk/government/collections/location-of-all-uk-regular-service-and-civilian-personnel-quarterly-statistics

Syria: Military Intervention

Catherine West: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what the legal basis was for the RAF drone attack carried out in Syria on 21 August 2015; and if he will publish the original legal guidance on which the decision to carry out the attack was made.

Michael Fallon: The Prime Minister made clear that the Attorney General had advised that the action we took would be lawful in self-defence of the UK. By long-standing convention, reflected in the Cabinet Manual, the content of the Law Officers' advice is not disclosed outside government without the consent of the Law Officers. As the Attorney General explained in his oral evidence to the Justice Select Committee on 15 September 2015, the convention should be adhered to in this case.

Syria: Military Intervention

Catherine West: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether any individuals other than those expressly intended to be the target of the RAF drone attack carried out in Syria on 21 August 2015 were killed or injured; and if he will make a statement.

Michael Fallon: I refer the hon. Member to the Statement my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister (David Cameron) made in the House on 7 September 2015 (Official Report, columns 23 to 27).



20150907 - PM Statement on Syria
(Word Document, 21.12 KB)

Veterans: Military Decorations

Mr David Hanson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many applications from Normandy veterans for the award of the Legion d'Honneur have been made to his Department since 6 June 2014; how many such applications have been approved for forwarding to the French government; and how many of those applications have resulted in receipt of a medal by veterans.

Mark Lancaster: Ministry of Defence (MOD) officials have received approximately 3,850 applications from Normandy veterans in the period 6 June 2014 to date; about 3,300 had been sent to the French authorities by April this year. The French system was overwhelmed by these and other applications from Allied nations, which have far exceeded expectations. We jointly developed a new administrative process with the French whereby, since July 2015, 100 cases per week have been re-submitted to the French authorities.The MOD is not routinely informed when an individual veteran is awarded the Legion d'Honneur as this is a matter for the French authorities. MOD officials understand that around 150 awards had been made by the beginning of July and that, subsequently, approximately 950 additional awards have been approved; of these we believe that about 600 may have been sent out. I am confident that this number will increase significantly over the coming weeks and months.

Clyde Naval Base: Staff

Brendan O'Hara: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many personnel of his Department working directly with the Trident programme at HM Naval Base Clyde are based permanently within (a) Argyll and Bute constituency, (b) West Dunbartonshire, (c) other parts of Scotland and (d) other parts of the UK.

Mark Lancaster: Her Majesty's Naval Base (HMNB) Clyde is one of the largest employment sites in Scotland, with around 6,800 military and civilian jobs now, increasing to around 8,200 by 2022.Civilian and Service personnel are not assigned to positions easily identified as supporting the Trident Programme. The information requested is not held centrally and could only be provided at disproportionate cost.

Armed Forces: LGBT People

Paul Blomfield: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what plans the Government has to acknowledge and compensate for the damage caused to individuals as a result of the former ban on homosexual people serving in the armed forces.

Penny Mordaunt: The Ministry of Defence (MOD) decided in January 2000 to allow lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) personnel to serve openly in the UK Armed Forces. Since that time the Department has been working to create a more inclusive culture where everyone feels valued, regardless of their sexuality. The inclusion of all three Services in Stonewall's 2015 list of the top 100 employers for LGBT personnel is testament to our success in this arena.At the time of our decision in 2000 to change the policy on serving LGBT personnel there were four legal cases brought by LGBT personnel against the MOD which had reached the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR). The ECHR ruled against the MOD and compensation was paid in full. Employment Tribunal applications on the same subject were also settled at the time and compensation was paid. There are no plans to provide further compensation.

Battle of Preston: Anniversaries

Mr Mark Hendrick: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether any Minister in his Department plans to attend celebrations of the tercentenary of the Battle of Preston in November 2015.

Mark Lancaster: There are no plans for any Minister from the Ministry of Defence to attend the tercentenary of the Battle of Preston. Any representation from the Armed Forces is likely to be at a local level.

Iraq: Military Bases

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what assessment his Department has made of the effect of crowded airspace on British military assets operating in Iraq; and if he will make a statement.

Michael Fallon: UK air assets are operating in Iraq as part of the coalition to counter ISIL. The traffic within this airspace is jointly managed by the coalition and the Government of Iraq to ensure that both military and civilian aircraft continue to operate safely.

Strategic Defence and Security Review: Scotland

Owen Thompson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, if he will consult Ministers in the Scottish Government on the Strategic Defence and Security Review.

Mr Philip Dunne: The Strategic Defence and Security Review is a cross Government review led by the Cabinet Office. As part of this review we have engaged with a wide range of stakeholders, including the Devolved Administrations.I and other Ministers have offered meetings with the Scottish Parliament Minister with responsibility for Veterans on five different dates in the past six weeks, which have been declined. Ministry of Defence Ministers remain willing to meet Ministers in the Scottish Government to discuss the SDSR; I also had a constructive meeting with the hon. Members for Argyll and Bute and Stirling last week.

Unmanned Air Vehicles

Catherine West: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many civilian casualties were recorded as a result of drone strikes in 2014.

Penny Mordaunt: There were no known incidents of civilian casualties from UK Remotely Piloted Air System strikes in 2014.

Department for Communities and Local Government

Private Rented Housing

Ian Austin: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what advice his Department issues to local authorities on advising private rented sector tenants subject to court orders for possession on the steps they should take to find accommodation.

Brandon Lewis: The statutory Homelessness Code of Guidance for Local Authorities includes advice and guidance to authorities on the actions they can take to prevent homelessness where a person is at risk of eviction from a property. This includes negotiation with landlords or with help to address rent arrears for example. It also explains how authorities should carry out their homelessness duties where eviction takes place.We have also introduced protections for tenants against “retaliatory eviction”. Where a tenant makes a genuine complaint about the condition of their property that has not been addressed by their landlord, their complaint has been verified by a local authority inspection, and the local authority has served either an improvement notice or a notice of emergency remedial action, a landlord cannot evict that tenant for 6 months using the ‘no-fault’ eviction procedure (a section 21 eviction). A ‘no fault’ eviction is one where the tenant does not have to have done anything wrong, for example not paying the rent, to be asked to leave. The landlord is also required to ensure that the repairs are completed. These rules, set out in the Deregulation Act 2015, apply to all new assured shorthold tenancies that start on or after 1 October 2015. A guidance note is available at https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/465275/Retaliatory_Eviction_Guidance_Note.pdf

Homelessness: Young People

Grahame Morris: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what steps he is taking to improve supported accommodation for homeless young people in (a) Easington constituency, (b) County Durham, (c) the North East and (d) England.

Mr Marcus Jones: The Government is committed to preventing youth homelessness and we are taking specific action across England to support young homeless people into stable accommodation, education training or employment.We have invested £14 million to enable Crisis to support 10,000 vulnerable single people into privately rented tenancies, of which 41 projects are specifically targeted at young people.Our £15 million Fair Chance Fund payment by results scheme is supporting 1,600 vulnerable homeless 18-25 year olds into accommodation, education training and employment. Projects for the scheme are being delivered across the country including North East areas such as Newcastle, Northumberland, South Tyneside, North Tyneside, Gateshead, Durham and Sunderland.In addition, the Government is investing £40 million in Platform for Life, a lower rent shared accommodation programme to provide young homeless people a stable base for work and study. We have also implemented the ‘Youth Accommodation Pathway’, good practice model that supports young people to remain in the family home where it is safe to do so and offers tailored support for those who cannot. This has been disseminated across all English local authorities.

Local Government

Chris White: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what discussions he has had with local government representatives on ensuring social value is taken into account in proposals for greater devolution; and what his policy is on the recommendation of the Local Government Association's National Procurement Strategy for Local Government on the wider adoption of Public Services (Social Value) Act 2012.

Mr Marcus Jones: The Government is looking at the full costs and benefits of devolution proposals in line with Government guidance. This is supported by detailed conversations with areas to help them refine their work such as guidance about onward devolution to neighbourhoods.The Government fully supports local authorities applying the concept of social value more widely than required by the Public Services (Social Value) Act 2012 and this is reflected in the Revised Best Value Statutory Guidance which was published in March of this year and can be viewed at the link below:https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/revised-best-value-statutory-guidance

Travellers: Entertainers

Alison Thewliss: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what steps his Department is taking to foster links with travelling showpeople.

Brandon Lewis: DCLG has an on-going dialogue with a range of partners. For example DCLG consulted travelling showpeople on recent changes to planning policy.

Communities and Local Government: Pressure Groups

Chris Stephens: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what meetings his Department has had with representatives of (a) the Taxpayers' Alliance, (b) the Confederation of British Industry, (c) the Institute of Economic Affairs, (d) the Adam Smith Institute, (e) the Freedom Association, (f) the Politics and Economic Research Trust and (g) the Midlands Industrial Council in the last 12 calendar months.

Mr Marcus Jones: Details of Ministers' and Permanent Secretaries meetings with external organisations are published up to 31 March 2015 and can be accessed on Gov.uk at: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/ministers-transparency-publicationsFurther publications of Ministerial and Permanent Secretaries meetings will be published in due course.

Refuges

Cat Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what steps he plans to take to ensure that women's refuges (a) have a sustainable source of funding and (b) continue to enable women to move between local authority areas after 31 March 2016.

Cat Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what steps he is taking to ensure that women's refuges have a sustainable source of funding after the current funding arrangements end on 31 March 2016.

Mr Marcus Jones: The Government is committed to a secure future for refuge provision, as set out in our Manifesto, and is determined to ensure that no victim is turned away from the support they need. At Budget the Chancellor announced an additional £3.2 million to increase specialist accommodation support for victims, including refuges, and provide more help for victims to access that support. This is in addition to the £10 million announced in 2014 to enable local authorities to strengthen refuge services. Our significant investment shows our clear commitment to maintaining and boosting refuge provision. Future funding arrangements are a matter for the Spending Review.

Homelessness: Durham

Grahame Morris: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, how many 16 and 17 year olds were presented as homeless to Durham County Council in the most recent 12 months for which figures are available.

Mr Marcus Jones: The Department for Communities and Local Government collects data on the numbers of households accepted as owed a homelessness duty, where the reason the household is in priority need is that the applicant is aged 16 or 17 years old. There have been no such cases in County Durham in the last 12 months.

Enterprise Zones: Lancashire

Mark Menzies: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what progress has been made in developing enterprise zones at (a) Blackpool Airport and (b) Warton.

James Wharton: Since the Lancashire Enterprise Zone was established in 2012 the Local Enterprise Partnership and UK Trade and Investment have actively promoted the Enterprise Zone as a good place for companies to set up or expand their businesses.Two companies have also set up on the Enterprise Zone’s other site at Warton, already attracting 25 jobs.Work has recently started on BAE’s training facility on the Enterprise Zone site in Samlesbury. This is a part of BAE’s national commitment to double the number of apprentices they train bringing important opportunities and skills to the area. The new facility is expected to be completed by September 2016.An announcement about the Blackpool Airport site will be made in due course.

Air Displays: Shoreham

Ben Howlett: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, if he will consider issuing guidance restricting the taking of photos and videos following the Shoreham air show crash.

James Wharton: This is not a matter for the Department for Communities and Local Government.

Affordable Housing

Craig Mackinlay: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, how many empty properties were brought back into use as affordable housing by the Empty Homes programme; and if he will introduce a similarly-operating scheme to that programme.

Brandon Lewis: The Coalition Government set a new direction in tackling empty homes and property to ensure their value and opportunity was realised. It provided £216 million direct funding to local authorities, registered providers and community groups between 2012- 2015 and 9,044 homes were created from empty property. Of these 5,722 homes were brought back into use as affordable housing. The remaining 3,322 were brought back to use in line with local demand and the requirements of the neighbourhood as part of the Clusters of Empty Homes Programme.This funding was intended to provide a push in the right direction, we have no plans to provide more. The Government has achieved a year on year reduction in long-term empty homes and the number of homes that stand empty for more than six months is now at its lowest level since records began.

Temporary Accommodation

Kate Osamor: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what proportion of households evicted from council accommodation rented from private landlords at short notice have been provided with emergency accommodation on the night of eviction.

Mr Marcus Jones: The requested data are not held centrally.

Social Rented Housing

Oliver Colvile: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what steps he is taking to promote tenant management.

Brandon Lewis: We have allocated funding of £1million in 2015/16 (through the Tenant Empowerment Programme) to support social housing tenants' involvement in their local communities. This includes support to those who wish to manage delivery of services to their homes and estates by taking up their Statutory Right To Manage.

Housing Associations

Sir Nicholas Soames: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, if he will take steps to improve the transparency of the corporate governance on housing associations.

Brandon Lewis: Housing associations who are registered providers need to adopt a code of governance and explain how they have complied with this code in annual accounts, which are required to be submitted to the Social Housing Regulator. From 2015-16, housing association accounts will also need to report compliance to the Regulator’s standards. These include a requirement to ensure effective governance arrangements that deliver their aims, objectives and intended outcomes for tenants and potential tenants in a transparent and accountable manner.

Housing: West Midlands

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what steps his Department is taking to increase the number of new homes built in local authorities in the West Midlands; and if he will make a statement.

Brandon Lewis: This Government is determined to extend home ownership to anyone that aspires to own a home of their own.The Department is using a range of measures, programmes and public land to stimulate and accelerate housing growth in the West Midlands.Investment programmes such as the Builders Finance Fund have been used to assist developers and builders to access the funds they need to undertake building activity and unlock housing growth. Through the previously announced Greater Birmingham and Solihull City Deal, we are working with Birmingham City Council to implement their public asset accelerator programme to bring public sector land to the market which would otherwise be undevelopable.Examples of housing coming forward in the West Midlands are 203 new homes to be built on the former Bucknall hospital site, 280 new homes and an improved retail centre at Meadway, East Birmingham, subject to planning, and 157 new homes for sale and rent at the former Dudley Guest Hospital, with a start on site scheduled next month.Almost 12,000 families in the West Midlands have been helped into home ownership via our Help to Buy Schemes.More widely, this Government is committed to increasing housing supply and home ownership in all parts of the country. Housing starts are at their highest annual level since 2007, and there are now almost 800,000 more homes in England than there were in 2009.The Housing Bill introduced to Parliament last week will help to deliver more homes faster by unlocking brownfield land, further improving the operation of the planning system through delivering measures in the Productivity Plan, setting out a framework for building 200,000 Starter Homes and doubling the number of custom-built and self-built homes by 2020.

Flood Control: West Lancashire

Rosie Cooper: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what discussions his Department has had with the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs on the internal drainage board for West Lancashire; and if he will make a statement.

Mr Marcus Jones: Holding answer received on 19 October 2015



The Department holds regular discussions with DEFRA on a variety of matters including ensuring that proper protections are in place to protect against flooding. DCLG officials have spoken with DEFRA about the proposed internal drainage board in Alt Crossens. Policy responsibility for flood risk management lies with DEFRA.

Fracking

Mark Menzies: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, if he will ensure that decisions on shale gas well locations are taken by local authorities.

James Wharton: Planning law requires that applications for planning permission must be determined in accordance with the Local Development Plan unless material considerations indicate otherwise. This is why our planning guidance encourages Local Minerals Plans, where appropriate, to give clear guidance and criteria for the location and assessment of hydrocarbon extraction within Petroleum Licence Areas. I refer my hon. Friend to the Written Ministerial Statements of 16 September (HCWS201 and HCWS202) which set out the Government’s policy on timely decision-taking on planning applications relating to shale gas extraction.

Scotland Office

Scotland Office: Pressure Groups

Chris Stephens: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, what meetings his Department has had with representatives of (a) the Taxpayers' Alliance, (b) the Confederation of British Industry, (c) the Institute of Economic Affairs, (d) the Adam Smith Institute, (e) the Freedom Association, (f) the Politics and Economic Research Trust and (g) the Midlands Industrial Council in the last 12 calendar months.

David Mundell: Details of Ministers' andPermanentSecretaries meetings with external organisations are published up to 31March 2015 and can be accessed on Gov.uk at:https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/ministers-transparency-publicationsFurther publications of Ministerial and Permanent Secretaries meetings will be published in due course.

Trade Unions: Scotland

Chris Stephens: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, what meetings his Department has had with (a) the Scottish Trade Unions Congress, (b) individual STUC-affiliated trades unions, (c) the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities and (d) other public bodies on trade union reform and the Trade Union Bill in the last six months.

David Mundell: Both I, my ministerial colleague Lord Dunlop and my officials have met with the STUC, STUC-affiliated trade unions, CoSLA and public bodies over the last six months and discussed a range of matters including trade union reform and the Trade Union Bill. These meetings have taken place on the following dates:17 August 2015;18 August 2015.My Rt hon Friend, Nick Boles, Minister of State for Business Innovation and Skills and officials met with the STUC to discuss trade union reform and the Trade Union Bill on:7 September 2015;18 August 2015.

Exports: Scotland

Mr Alistair Carmichael: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, what progress the Government has made on implementing the recommendations of the Wilson Review of Support for Scottish Exporting; and what plans he has to designate (a) the Scotch whisky industry and (b) other sectors with experience and success in export markets as free trade champions.

David Mundell: The Scotland Office created and chairs the Scottish Exporting Joint Working Group. This consists of officials from UKTI, SDI and Scottish Enterprise and the Scottish Government. The Group last met on the 5 October where they discussed a draft Action Plan that contains practical steps to achieve greater collaboration, co-operation and alignment between the organisations serving Scottish exporters, in line with the recommendations of the Wilson Review. The Action Plan will be agreed over the coming weeks.The Government has no immediate plans to designate the Scotch whisky industry or other sectors in Scotland as free trade champions. However, we are working very closely with the Scotch Whisky Association to learn from their expertise on trade issues with a view to replicating the extraordinary success the Scotch Whisky industry has had in export markets across the wider UK food and drink sector.

Women and Equalities

Government Equalities Office: Pressure Groups

Chris Stephens: To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities, what meetings (a) Ministers and (b) officials of her Department have had with representatives of (i) the Taxpayers' Alliance, (ii) the Confederation of British Industry, (iii) the Institute of Economic Affairs, (iv) the Adam Smith Institute, (v) the Freedom Association, (vi) the Politics and Economics Research Trust and (vii) the Midlands Industrial Council in the last 12 months.

Caroline Dinenage: Details of Ministers' meetings with external organisations are published up to 31 March 2015 and can be accessed on Gov.uk at: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/ministers-transparency-publicationsFurther publications of Ministerial meetings will be published in due course.

Bullying: Homophobia

Henry Smith: To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities, what steps her Department is taking to help tackle homophobic bullying in schools.

Caroline Dinenage: Tackling all forms of bullying is a top priority for this Government. All schools are required by law to have a behaviour policy with measures to prevent all forms of bullying. The Government has taken a number of steps to help schools address bullying, including by providing advice on how to prevent and tackle bullying and how schools should support children who are bullied.We are providing £1.3 million this year to anti-bullying charities to tackle all forms of bullying, on top of the £4 million provided in 2013-2015. We have also launched a specific programme in 2015-2016 to prevent and tackle homophobic, biphobic and transphobic bullying in schools. £2 million has been awarded to projects to work with schools through classroom-based activities, use of positive role models and specific training for teachers to understand and address this issue effectively. We will share the learning from these projects more widely, so all schools have the tools and knowledge to take appropriate action.

Disability: Children's Play

Ben Howlett: To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities, what recent assessment she has made of the ease of disabled children's access to play.

Caroline Dinenage: The Equality Act 2010 prohibits discrimination against disabled children which could include ‘play’. For example it would be unlawful to refuse or inhibit a disabled child’s access to a local playground; their enrolment at a local nursery or playgroup; or their taking part in any other play activities such as local sports. The Act requires service providers to make both requested and anticipatory ‘reasonable adjustments’ that will facilitate the participation of disabled children in all forms of ‘play’.

Department for Transport

Department for Transport: Pressure Groups

Chris Stephens: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what meetings (a) Ministers and (b) officials in his Department have had with representatives of (i) the Taxpayers' Alliance, (ii) the Confederation of British Industry, (iii) the Institute of Economic Affairs, (iv) the Adam Smith Institute, (v) the Freedom Association, (vi) the Politics and Economics Research Trust and (vii) the Midlands Industrial Council in the last 12 months.

Mr Robert Goodwill: Details of Ministers' meetings andPermanentSecretaries with external organisations are published up to 31March 2015 and can be accessed on Gov.uk at:https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/ministers-transparency-publications.Further publications of Ministerial and Permanent Secretaries meetings will be published in due course.

High Speed 2 Railway Line

Keir Starmer: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what increase there has been in the mitigation and compensation budget of High Speed 2 as a result of the greater impact of AP3 construction works on Camden residents and businesses in (a) intensity, (b) length of construction period  and (c) need for temporary rehousing and secondary glazing.

Mr Robert Goodwill: The cost of mitigating the construction works impacts arising from changes to the hybrid Bill scheme for Euston introduced by AP3 and the budget for any additional statutory and discretionary compensation costs will be accommodated within the existing overall budget for Phase One of HS2.

High Speed 2 Railway Line

Keir Starmer: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many applications have been made in each community forum area in Camden under the (a) Exceptional Hardship and (b) Need to Sell schemes of High Speed 2; and what the outcome of each such application has been.

Mr Robert Goodwill: We do not categorise applications for the Phase One Exceptional Hardship Scheme (EHS) or the Need to Sell (NTS) scheme by the applicant’s Community Forum Area. Nevertheless, from Holborn and St Pancras, we have received six Phase One EHS applications, including two reapplications. Two have been accepted, two were refused and two were withdrawn. Regarding the NTS, from Holborn and St Pancras we have received six applications, including one reapplication. Three have been accepted, two were declined and one is on hold.

High Speed 2 Railway Line

Keir Starmer: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what compensation HS2 Ltd has to pay to rail franchise holders for the track possessions required to bring High Speed 2 to Euston; and what effect the provisions made in the AP3 Environmental Statement have had on this figure.

Mr Robert Goodwill: HS2 Ltd deposited an Additional Provision (AP3) to the HS2 Phase One hybrid Bill on 16 September 2015 which includes revised plans for London Euston station. The new plans focus on an incremental strategy which will deliver new high speed platforms (Stages A and B1) and do not preclude wider redevelopment of the existing station in the future (Stage B2).We have listened to train operators and worked very closely with them throughout the development of the new design. The staged approach will mean less disruption to passengers using existing train services and therefore compensation to train operators. We have made budget provision for a level of compensation to train operators as part of the overall Phase One rail budget. These allowances have still to be agreed with the relevant train operators and will be assessed further as part of the design development process. The information also remains commercially sensitive.Any necessary impacts to the existing railway will be carefully planned with Network Rail and the affected operators from the outset, learning from experiences at other major stations such as Kings Cross and London Bridge.

High Speed 2 Railway Line

Keir Starmer: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what the current budget is for bringing High Speed 2 into Euston; and what proportion of this cost is accounted for by (a) tunnelling from Old Oak Common to the Euston Portal, (b) construction works in the Camden Cutting, (c) Phases A and B1 of the new station at Euston, (d) land acquisition costs, including any land transferred between public authorities and (e) mitigation measures and compensation.

Mr Robert Goodwill: HS2 Ltd deposited an Additional Provision (AP3) to the HS2 Phase One hybrid Bill on 16 September 2015 which includes revised plans for London Euston station. The new plans focus on an incremental strategy which will deliver new high speed platforms (Stages A and B1) and do not preclude wider redevelopment of the existing station in the future (Stage B2).The new proposals for a phased approach to Euston station will be delivered within the existing budget for Phase One of HS2 of £21.4bn. Within this overall budget the estimated construction costs of our latest plan for Euston is £2.25bn.It is not appropriate to provide a breakdown of the construction costs below this figure as this information is commercially sensitive and would compromise the forthcoming procurement process for these works.We will continue to work with our contractors and the rail industry to find the most cost efficient way of delivering the project.

High Speed 2 Railway Line

Keir Starmer: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will ensure that public land required by HS2 Ltd only during the construction phase will be returned to the relevant local authority for reprovison for community facilities.

Mr Robert Goodwill: Virtually all the land compulsorily acquired for HS2 will be used permanently for the construction and operation of the new railway. Where land compulsorily acquired becomes surplus to requirements, in accordance with the Crichel Down Rules and subject to key Guiding Principles set out in the High Speed Two Information Paper - C6: DISPOSAL OF SURPLUS LAND, landowners may be offered the opportunity to buy back land, at market value. The future use of land returned to local authorities would therefore be a matter for them to decide.High Speed Two Information Paper C6: DISPOSAL OF SURPLUS LAND attached. 



HS2 information Paper 6_ Disposal of Surplus Lland
(PDF Document, 212.73 KB)

Euston Station

Keir Starmer: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, when funds will be made available to enable the eastern section of the station at Euston to be redeveloped; and if he will ensure that this is developed as a level-deck station with platforms at the same levels as those for High Speed 2.

Mr Robert Goodwill: HS2 Ltd deposited an Additional Provision (AP3) to the HS2 Phase One hybrid Bill on 16 September 2015 which includes revised plans for London Euston station. The new plans focus on an incremental strategy which will deliver new high speed platforms (Stages A and B1) and do not preclude wider redevelopment of the existing station in the future (Stage B2).The redevelopment of the existing station (Stage B2) will be subject to separate planning and funding decisions that will be made at an appropriate point in the process. Network Rail is preparing plans for the feasibility work of this redevelopment which will be submitted as part of its Control Period 6 (CP6) submission (which covers the period 2019-2024). These plans will consider the impacts of all options for station redevelopment including level-deck and split-level concourses and will include an assessment of the effects of this redevelopment, including the potential effects on local residents, businesses and rail users. The process will start with the Initial Industry Plan which is anticipated to be published in September 2016.

Railways: Disability

Dawn Butler: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what plans he to promote the expansion of the turn-up-and-go scheme for disabled transport users throughout the rail network.

Claire Perry: The Association of Train Operating Companies launched a six month trial of turn up and go at 36 London stations in May this year. If the trial is successful they will consider whether the service can be made permanent at the trial stations and if it can be expanded further across the network.

High Speed 2 Railway Line

Keir Starmer: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to paragraph 31 of the report by the House of Lords Economic Affairs Committee entitled The economics of HS2, published on 25 March 2015, what steps the Government has taken to estimate the overall reduction of cost to High Speed 2 of terminating the line at Old Oak Common, including any necessary redesign of the station at Old Oak Common to make this possible and calculate the effect on the project's cost benefit analysis.

Mr Robert Goodwill: Terminating at Old Oak Common as an option was sifted out early in the decision making process for the London terminus given the weakness of the option, particularly in relation to its limited connectivity benefits. For this reason, the Government is not considering the option in any further detail and does not have cost estimates on a basis which would enable comparison with the preferred Euston terminus option. Euston is the best location for city centre connectivity and has the best onward transport connections to disperse passengers across London and it already has great London Underground connections on the Victoria and Northern lines and the Circle, Hammersmith & City and Metropolitan lines from Euston Square. The only way for onward travel from an Old Oak Common terminus would be Crossrail – any service interruption to Crossrail would potentially result in having to close HS2 as passengers would have no adequate alternative onward connection option. A Euston terminus is also essential for releasing capacity on the West Coast Mainline which is effectively full in terms of train paths.In addition to not meeting our programme objectives, a terminus at Old Oak Common would still incur a number of significant costs. These include:Construction of a much larger HS2 station at the same depth as the Proposed Scheme (approximately 15m below ground level). A terminus station would need not only additional platforms but also additional servicing circulation and interchange facilities.Relocation of the Crossrail depot to the north of the station. No alternative location has been identified.It might be necessary to acquire properties in Hythe Road and divert the Grand Union Canal in order to provide sufficient space for the platforms and circulation around the station.A subterranean drive under tunnel to the west of the North London LineFinally, it is worth noting that a very substantial part of the cost of the HS2 scheme at Euston is for Underground and other interchange facilities. These works will be necessary at some stage to serve the growing passenger demand at Euston that would occur irrespective of HS2.

Motor Vehicles: Lighting

Christian Matheson: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of amending the road traffic construction and use regulations to prohibit blue lights on non-emergency vehicles.

Andrew Jones: The specification including colour and use of lamps on road vehicles are the subject of The Road Vehicle Lighting Regulations 1989. Only emergency vehicles are permitted by this legislation to have blue special warning lamps and warning beacons. No assessment has been made to amend these regulations for blue lamps or warning beacons on non-emergency vehicles, as the prohibitions already exist.

Motor Vehicles: Lighting

Christian Matheson: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will amend the road traffic construction and use regulations to require dashboard warning lights for faulty brake lights to be mandatory.

Andrew Jones: Dash board warning lights are the subject of the Road Vehicle Lighting Regulations 1989. There are no specific requirements for brake light failure warning and there are no plans to amend them. The optional fitment of such a warning light is permitted.

Railways: Scotland

Calum Kerr: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps his Department has taken to assess the (a) feasibility and (b) the potential economic and social effects on the North of England of extending the new Borders Railway to Carlisle.

Andrew Jones: The Borders Railway is a matter for the Scottish Government in line with the Scottish Parliament’s legislative competence for the promotion and construction of railways that start, end and remain in Scotland. We look to the relevant local authorities and Local Enterprise Partnerships (LEPs) in the Transport for the North partnership, in developing a comprehensive transport strategy for the North of England, to decide whether to engage with the Scottish Government and other stakeholders on the commissioning of such assessments. The UK Government has established a £12bn Local Growth Fund (LGF) to support LEPs in delivering their priorities for supporting local economic growth.

Shipping

Cat Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what the current status is of the Shipping Strategic Plans for the (a) shipping, (b) ports and (c) business services sectors of the UK maritime industry; and if he will make a statement.

Mr Robert Goodwill: The Shipping and Ports Strategic Partnership Plans are active and remain helpful tools for government and industry to agree joint priorities and actions and to provide a cohesive platform for future strategic development. The Maritime Business Services Strategic Partnership Plan is agreed with Industry and is due to be published imminently.

Public Transport: Bicycles

Ben Howlett: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the effect of the provision of bike racks on buses on the number of people using public transport.

Andrew Jones: The Government is keen to promote cycling, and I am aware that bike racks on buses are commonplace in some countries. Whilst we have not conducted any assessments on their role in increasing overall bus patronage, I would encourage bus operators to consider fitting such equipment where it is safe and legal to do so.

Trams

Ben Howlett: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of extending the use of trams to increase low-carbon travel.

Andrew Jones: In the right circumstances, this Government supports light rail and other types of urban transit. They can play an important role in our local transport networks, help reduce congestion, reduce carbon emissions and increase low carbon travel. Introducing a light rail system is a local matter for the relevant local authority and Local Economic Partnership to consider based on their needs and funding priorities.

Foreign and Commonwealth Office

Central African Republic: Elections

Mr Andrew Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what technical support his Department plans to provide to the forthcoming elections in the Central African Republic.

Grant Shapps: The Central African Republic’s Electoral Authority needs to adopt, without further delay, a revised calendar for the holding of elections. Free, fair and inclusive elections are crucial for the Central African Republic’s future stability and progress towards reconciliation. The UK welcomes the Central African Republic’s Constitutional Court ruling that all citizens of the Central African Republic, including internally displaced people and refugees in neighbouring countries, have the right to vote in upcoming elections. The UK recognises the significant progress achieved in the voters registration process in the Central African Republic and emphasises the importance of the registration of refugees in neighbouring countries. The UK is supportive of an EU Electoral Observation Mission to the Central African Republic, subject to further discussions in Brussels later this year.

China: Human Rights

Dawn Butler: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what plans he has to raise the issue of human rights during the visit of Chinese President Xi Jinping in October 2015.

Mr Hugo Swire: Ministers regularly engage China on human rights. The Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my right hon. Friend the Member for Runnymede and Weybridge (Mr Hammond) did so during the UK-China Strategic Dialogue in Beijing in August, as did the Chancellor, my right hon. Friend the Member for Tatton (Mr George Osborne) during his visit in September. Discussions during the State Visit will be broad and cover areas both where we agree and where we disagree.

Overseas Aid

Mark Pritchard: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what checks his Department carries out on non-governmental organisations and charities before allocating them funding to ensure that they do not have discriminatory policies against individual countries or states.

Mr David Lidington: The Foreign and Commonwealth Office conducts due diligence checks, for example background checks, on non-governmental organisations and charities before any offer of funding is made. However, the checks vary depending on the size, nature and operating environment of the proposed work.

Israel: Christianity

Mark Pritchard: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, if he will make representations to his Israeli counterpart on reducing the number of attacks on Christian religious sites in Israel.

Mr Tobias Ellwood: We condemn all extremist violence, including attacks against religious buildings. We are aware that on 18 June, the Benedictine Church of the Multiplication at Tabgha, on the Sea of Galilee, was set on fire and vandalised with graffiti. Officials from our Embassy in Tel Aviv raised this at the time with the Israeli Foreign Ministry and National Security Council. On 10 September the Prime Minister, my right hon. Friend the Member for Witney (Mr Cameron), and the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my right hon. Friend the Member for Runnymede and Weybridge (Mr Hammond), raised their concerns for peace in the region with Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu.

Germany: Thalidomide

James Cartlidge: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, if he will make representations to the German government urging it to follow up on the meeting between German officials and the National Advisory Council of the Thalidomide Trust in July 2015 and work towards its making financial contributions to those affected by Thalidomide.

Mr David Lidington: We continue to support the Thalidomide Trust in making their own representations directly to the German Government. Officials in London and at the British Embassy in Berlin remain in contact with both the National Advisory Council and the German authorities following their July meeting, including to encourage further meetings.

Foreign and Commonwealth Office: Pressure Groups

Chris Stephens: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what meetings his Department has had with representatives of (a) the Taxpayers' Alliance, (b) the Confederation of British Industry, (c) the Institute of Economic Affairs, (d) the Adam Smith Institute, (e) the Freedom Association, (f) the Politics and Economics Research Trust and (g) the Midlands Industrial Council in the last 12 months.

Mr David Lidington: Details of Ministers' and Permanent Secretaries meetings with external organisations are published up to 31 March 2015 and can be accessed on Gov.uk at: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/ministers-transparency-publications Further publications of Ministerial and Permanent Secretaries meetings will be published in due course.

India: Human Rights

Fiona Mactaggart: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, whether he plans to raise the human rights of ethnic and religious minorities in India during the visit of Prime Minister Modi to the UK in November 2015; and if he will make a statement.

Mr Hugo Swire: India and the UK have a rich, wide-ranging and mature bilateral relationship. We will discuss a broad spectrum of issues during Prime Minister Modi's visit.The UK raises a range of human rights matters with India, including religious freedom and the treatment of ethnic minorities, both bilaterally and through the EU. This includes meeting Union and State level government institutions, such as the Indian National Commission for Minorities, which the British High Commission in New Delhi met earlier this month. The High Commission also stays in regular contact with civil society organisations and senior faith leaders working on religious freedom across India.

Gibraltar: Bank Notes

Chris Stephens: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what the legal status of Scottish, Northern Irish and Bank of England banknotes is within the Overseas Territory of Gibraltar; and what the official policy of the Government of Gibraltar is on the use of Scottish and Northern Irish banknotes within that Territory.

Mr David Lidington: Finance and related issues are the constitutional competence of Her Majesty’s Government of Gibraltar. It is therefore for them to determine both the legal status and the policy on the use of the Scottish, Northern Irish and Bank of England banknotes within their territory.

Commonwealth: Marriage

Vicky Foxcroft: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what steps the Government is taking to ensure that same-sex marriages are recognised in all Commonwealth countries; and what (a) meetings and (b) correspondence he has had on this issue.

Mr David Lidington: Our High Commissions continue to lobby at the highest levels on Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) rights, particularly in countries where same-sex relations are criminalised. The UK wants the Commonwealth to do more to ensure that same-sex marriages are recognised across all member states. This has been a contentious issue for Commonwealth members, but we believe progress is fundamental to the Commonwealth’s ability to improve the lives of its people and develop peaceful societies.Commonwealth members share a collective responsibility to live up to the values of the Commonwealth Charter and we will continue to be clear in pressing them to embrace these values. The Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my right hon. Friend the Member for Runnymede and Weybridge (Mr Hammond) wrote to the Commonwealth Secretary General in March and raised the importance of implementing the aims and aspirations of the Charter.Last month, The Minister of State, my noble Friend, the right hon. Baroness Anelay of St Johns DBE, met the US Special Envoy for the Rights of LGBT persons to discuss how the UK could work with likeminded partners, including in the Commonwealth, to strengthen the work of civil society organisations and all those fighting to end discrimination.

European Union: Treaties

Peter Grant: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, which other EU member states have stated that they are prepared to support proposals to amend the EU treaties.

Mr David Lidington: The Prime Minister. my right hon. Friend the Member for Witney (Mr Cameron) has spoken to his counterparts in all other EU Member States, setting out the case for substantive reforms. He has been very clear that these reforms must be legally binding and irreversible and that in some areas that will mean treaty change. Technical talks are currently ongoing.

Eritrea: Arms Trade

Patrick Grady: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what information his Department holds on UK-based companies (a) manufacturing and (b) selling arms for use in Eritrea.

Grant Shapps: No. All UK based companies must abide fully by the UN arms embargo on Eritrea, which prohibits the manufacturing or selling of arms to the Government of Eritrea.

Eritrea: Ethiopia

Patrick Grady: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent discussions he has had with the (a) UN, (b) EU, (c) government of Ethiopia and (d) government of Eritrea on implementation of the recommendations of the Eritrea-Ethiopia Boundary Commission.

Grant Shapps: We have consistently urged both Eritrea and Ethiopia to engage bilaterally and with international partners, such as the EU and the UN, to overcome the current stalemate. The UK, along with our international partners, has underlined that the decision by the Ethiopia-Eritrea Boundary Commission is final and binding. We urge both governments to respect the commitment they made in the Algiers peace agreement of December 2000.

Republic of Congo: Overseas Companies

Mark Pritchard: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, if he will make representations to the government of the Republic of Congo on the payment of UK companies for infrastructure work undertaken in that country on behalf of the Congolese government.

Grant Shapps: We were recently made aware of a case where a company owned by a British national has found it difficult to secure payment for infrastructure projects carried out on behalf of the Government of the Republic of Congo. In June this year, my officials raised this case with the Congolese authorities, and highlighted the importance to all involved of resolving this case in accordance with the court decisions made in the Republic of Congo and elsewhere.

Eritrea: Human Rights

Patrick Grady: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, if he will issue a response to Early Day Motion 112 on human rights in Eritrea.

Grant Shapps: We are concerned by the findings of the UN Commission of Inquiry on human rights in Eritrea, in particular reports of arbitrary detention, and shortcomings in the rule of law and respect for fundamental freedoms. We have made clear to the Government of Eritrea that it must honour its international obligations and that improved respect for human rights is required to help stem the flow of irregular migration. Through the Khartoum Process and the forthcoming Valletta Summit we will continue to engage Eritrea to that end.

Gibraltar: Spain

Andrew Gwynne: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what assessment he has made of the potential effect of the UK leaving the EU on relations between Spain and HM Government of Gibraltar.

Mr David Lidington: The Prime Minister is focused on delivering a successful renegotiation: he believes he can and will succeed in reforming and renegotiating our relationship with the EU and campaigning to keep the UK in the EU on that basis.

Spain: Politics and Government

Andrew Gwynne: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent meetings he and other Ministers of his Department have had with Miguel Ángel Moratinos.

Mr David Lidington: Neither the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my right hon. Friend the member for Runnymede and Weybridge (Mr Hammond) or I have had any recent meetings with Miguel Angel Moratinos.

Central African Republic

Mr Andrew Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what assessment he has made of progress of the disarmament, demobilisation and reintegration process in the Central African Republic.

Grant Shapps: The signing of the agreement on disarmament, demobilization, reintegration and repatriation by the transitional government and armed groups at the Bangui Forum in May was an important step towards strengthening security in the Central African Republic. The recent violence in Bangui has demonstrated that it is critical for the agreement to be applied and for international forces to make progress with disarmament.

Central African Republic: Children

Mr Andrew Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what steps the Government is taking to support the reintegration into society of children enlisted in armed groups in the Central African Republic.

Grant Shapps: We welcome the agreement reached at the Bangui Forum in May to release all children from the ranks of armed groups. It is important that these children are offered assistance to reintegrate into society. We encourage International Financial Institutions and other donors to invest in productive sectors to increase income-generating opportunities for the youth of Central African Republic and which provide a real alternative to joining an armed group.

West Bank: Arson

David Mowat: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what information he has received from the Israeli authorities about progress in prosecuting the perpetrators of the arson attack in the Palestinian village of Duma in July 2015.

Mr Tobias Ellwood: We are aware of reports that Israel’s Defence Minister said Israel knows that the Duma terror attack was committed by extremist Jews, but that legal investigations are stuck because of insufficient admissible evidence. We have called on the Israeli authorities to ensure that those responsible for this crime are brought swiftly to justice. Officials at our Embassy in Tel Aviv are closely following Israel's actions to introduce additional measures to combat settler violence.

Nigeria: Boko Haram

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what discussions the Government has had with the Nigerian government on the recent rescue of 178 people from Boko Haram; and what information his Department holds on the number of children so rescued who were kidnapped by Boko Haram in April 2014.

Grant Shapps: We welcome both the recent successes of the Nigerian Army in their fight against Boko Haram, and that a number of women and children have been rescued. We continue to encourage the Nigerian authorities to provide those rescued with appropriate support. I raised these issues during my visit to Nigeria 12-14 October. We understand that none of those recently rescued were individuals abducted by Boko Haram from the town of Chibok in April 2014. We continue to support the search.

Australia: Foreign Relations

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what discussions he has had with his Australian counterpart on the effect of Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull coming into office on Australian-UK relations.

Mr Hugo Swire: The UK and Australia continue to enjoy a close and productive partnership. At the heart of this are regular dialogues between Ministers on important policy issues. Our shared values and interests mean that dialogues continue even as counterparts change. The Prime Minister, my right hon. Friend the Member for Witney (Mr Cameron) most recently spoke to Malcolm Turnbull on 8 October. The Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my right hon. Friend the Member for Runnymede and Weybridge (Mr Hammond) is also in regular contact with his Australian counterpart.

Syria: Sexual Offences

Helen Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what assessment the Government has made of the level of sexual violence (a) within Syria and (b) in camps for Syrian refugees.

Mr Tobias Ellwood: Holding answer received on 16 October 2015



We are extremely concerned by the high levels of sexual violence in Syria and within Syrian refugee camps. The UN Commission of Inquiry report of September 2015 highlighted widespread sexual abuse carried out by the Syrian regime, ISIL and some armed opposition groups within Syria. Assad’s forces and militia are responsible for the vast majority of sexual violence, which include threats, rape, degrading body searches and sexual harassment in prisons and branches of the security agencies. ISIL propaganda condones the barbaric treatment of male and female captives, sexual relations with adolescent girls and sexual slavery. Unfortunately, many of those who flee the conflict remain extremely vulnerable to sexual violence. Exploitation of vulnerable individuals within refugee camps was highlighted by the UN Equity for Gender Equality and Empowerment of Women report “We keep Silent” issued in April 2014. The UK is providing £1 billion in humanitarian aid, which includes support to the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) to provide services for survivors of sexual violence and has so far reached over 27,000 women in Syria. We are also supporting case management in Jordan for over 800 survivors and cash assistance to vulnerable refugee women in Lebanon. The FCO has committed £5.2 million to projects preventing sexual violence in Syria. We are supporting projects to train health professionals and human rights defenders in collecting and preserving evidence of human rights abuses including sexual violence.

China: Religious Freedom

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, whether he plans to express concern about persecution of religious groups in China with President Xi Jinping during his visit to the UK.

Mr Hugo Swire: We raise the range of our human rights concerns directly with China. We do so during the annual UK-China Human Rights Dialogue. We also highlight them publicly in the Foreign and Commonwealth Office’s Annual Report on Human Rights and Democracy (www.hrdreport.fco.gov.uk).Ministers regularly engage China on human rights. The Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my right hon. Friend the Member for Runnymede and Weybridge (Mr Hammond) did so during the UK-China Strategic Dialogue in Beijing in August, as did the Chancellor of the Exchequer, my right hon. Friend the Member for Tatton (Mr George Osborne) during his visit in September. Discussions during the State Visit will be broad, covering areas both where we agree and disagree.

Saudi Arabia: Arms Trade

Patrick Grady: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what steps he is taking to monitor the use of weapons (a) manufactured in the UK or (b) sold by UK companies to the government of Saudi Arabia to ensure that such sales are compliant with international obligations.

Mr Tobias Ellwood: The Government remains confident that the UK operates one of the most thorough and robust export control and licensing systems in the world. All applications for strategic export control licences for military and dual-use goods are assessed on a case-by-case basis against the Government’s Consolidated EU and National Arms Export Licensing Criteria, in a manner consistent with the UK’s international obligationsThe Government is satisfied that extant licences for Saudi Arabia are compliant with the UK’s export licensing criteria. The Government of Saudi Arabia has provided repeated assurances to us that they are complying with international humanitarian law and we continue to engage with them on those assurances.

Burma: Elections

Rushanara Ali: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what discussions his Department has had with the government of Burma on the possible postponement of elections in that country.

Mr Hugo Swire: None. Burma’s Union Election Commission consulted the main political parties on 13 October over the possibility of a postponement to the 8 November general election because of flooding, but decided against such a postponement shortly thereafter.

Saudi Arabia: Arms Trade

Patrick Grady: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what reports he has received of weapons (a) manufactured in the UK or (b) sold by companies based in the UK being used by the government of Saudi Arabia in the military conflict in Yemen.

Mr Tobias Ellwood: Munitions are supplied to the Saudi Air Force under pre-existing contractual arrangements. UK companies are providing precision guided Paveway weapons. The Royal Saudi Air Force is flying British built aircraft in the campaign over Yemen, but this does not represent a direct UK involvement in operations. The UK operates one of the most rigorous and transparent export control regimes in the world. All exports of military and dual-use goods are assessed on a case-by-case basis against the Consolidated EU and National Arms Export Licensing Criteria. We are satisfied that extant licences for Saudi Arabia are compliant with the Consolidated Criteria.

Colombia: Peace Negotiations

Mark Durkan: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what assessment he has made of the implications for peace talks in Colombia of the on-going violence perpetrated by paramilitaries in that country.

Mr Hugo Swire: We strongly believe that the best way to achieve a sustainable peace in Colombia after decades of conflict is through the current Peace Process. We welcome the announcement by both sides on 23 September, on an agreement for justice and victims' reparations. The agreement ends any notion of impunity, including those alleged to be involved in Paramilitary groups.Our Embassy in Bogotá receives regular reporting on the security and human rights situation in Colombia from a range of sources including non-governmental organisations operating in Colombia. This includes allegations of abuses by paramilitary groups such as attacks against leaders of land restitution claims and human rights defenders. The majority of such abuses continue to take place in areas affected by the ongoing conflict. We remain concerned about the ongoing activity of paramilitary forces operating in Colombia and we continue to raise this issue of Human rights regularly with the Colombian authorities.

Syria: Russia

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what assessment he has made of the implications for his policies of the Russian intervention in Syria; and if he will make a statement.

Mr Tobias Ellwood: We remain committed to seeking a political solution to the conflict. Russia’s intervention in Syria, including targeting the moderate opposition, has complicated an already difficult situation. We are actively engaging with international partners to address this and to reinvigorate a political process that leads to a solution based on the principles of the Geneva Communiqué.

Libya: Freezing of Assets

Lady Hermon: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, if he will make it his policy to ensure that interest earned on Libyan assets frozen in the UK is used to compensate the victims of IRA/Libyan-sponsored violence; and if he will make a statement.

Mr Tobias Ellwood: There is no legal basis upon which the UK could re-direct Libyan assets or the interest accrued to individuals for the purposes of compensation. Regarding assets which belonged to Qadhafi or other regime figures, the UN Security Council has stipulated that when these are unfrozen, they will be made available to, and for the benefit of the Libyan people. For the duration of time that these assets are frozen, they and any interest they accrue will be governed in accordance with the specific sanctions in place over the individuals or entities to which the assets belong. In this case, the asset freezing measures are set out under EU Regulation 204/2011 which prohibits the release of frozen funds and the interest accrued belonging to listed individuals or entities except in very specific circumstances, which do not apply here.

Department for International Development

Caribbean: Reconstruction

Fiona Mactaggart: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what steps her Department is taking to support rebuilding work in the Caribbean after Hurricane Joaquin.

Mr Desmond Swayne: Following a request from the Government of the Bahamas the Royal Fleet Auxiliary Lyme Bay was deployed to provide humanitarian assistance to the worst affected of the Family Islands. During its deployment, working in close coordination with the Bahamas National Emergency Management Agency and the Royal Bahamian Defence Force, the RFA Lyme Bay was able to distribute approximately 60 tonnes of emergency stores on behalf of the Caribbean Disaster and Emergency Management Agency (CDEMA) and to provide evacuation, clean-up, repair and other immediate emergency assistance on Acklins Island, Long Island, Long Cay and Crooked Islands. The RFA Lyme Bay was also able to offer valuable support for the international rapid assessment mission by accommodating on board the 19 person strong CDEMA assessment teams from 6-8 October and facilitating their access to the most affected islands.

Afghanistan: Poverty

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what recent discussions the Government has had with the Afghan government on relieving poverty in Afghanistan.

Mr Desmond Swayne: The UK government played a leading role in the Senior Officials Meeting in Kabul in September 2015 at which a new Mutual Accountability Framework for development and poverty reduction was agreed between the Afghan government and the international community. Several UK Government Ministers have had conversations with their Afghan counterparts recently to discuss issues of mutual interest including poverty reduction.The UK also holds quarterly development cooperation meetings with the Afghan government to discuss its bilateral aid programme, as well as regular thematic discussions with Afghan ministers and officials.

Middle East and North Africa: Famine

Stephen Gethins: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what assessment she has made of the risk of famine in Yemen; and what assessment she has made of the possible humanitarian implications of famine in the Middle East and North Africa.

Mr Desmond Swayne: The UN World Food Programme has warned that Yemen is “one step away from famine”. Over 12 million people – almost half of the population - are struggling to find enough food to eat. Of those, 6 million people are facing severe food shortages. In Hodeidah city alone, UNICEF have warned that 96,000 children are starving and at risk of dying. The ongoing conflict continues to affect imports of commercial and humanitarian supplies – especially essential fuel, food and medicines - into Yemen and the distribution of food to those who need it most.The UK is one of the largest donors to the crisis in Yemen and has announced £75 million to respond to the humanitarian crisis in Yemen, focused on the most urgent life-saving needs. UK aid is providing vital medical supplies, water, food and emergency shelter, as well as supporting UN work to co-ordinate the international humanitarian response.Despite severe food shortages, there has not yet been a significant movement of people from Yemen to neighbouring countries in the Middle East and North Africa. Djibouti and Somalia have received the highest number of refugees since the escalation of the conflict in Yemen in March 2015.To improve the living conditions of migrants and refugees from Yemen in Djibouti, the UK is supporting the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees and the International Organisation for Migration with in-kind assistance consisting of shelter kits, water containers, family kitchen sets, blankets, hygiene kits and solar lanterns. The UK is also providing a package of food, health and shelter assistance to refugees from Yemen in Somalia.

Yemen: Armed Conflict

Stephen Gethins: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what assessment she has made of the effect of the ongoing de facto blockade of Yemen by the government of Yemen and the Saudi-led coalition on (a) aid and (b) commercial supplies to that country.

Mr Desmond Swayne: The conflict in Yemen has resulted in severe restrictions on imports of humanitarian and commercial supplies into the country, including essential fuel, food and medicines. According to the UN, since April, Yemen has received 2.1 million metric tonnes of food (90% through commercial imports and 10% through humanitarian aid) but only 25% of its estimated fuel needs.The UK continues to call on all parties to facilitate unimpeded and immediate humanitarian access to all people in need in Yemen, and to lift any restrictions on commercial and humanitarian shipping.The UK is one of the largest donors to the crisis in Yemen and has announced £75 million to respond to the humanitarian crisis in Yemen, focused on the most urgent life-saving needs. UK aid is providing vital medical supplies, water, food and emergency shelter, as well as supporting UN work to co-ordinate the international humanitarian response.

Yemen: Armed Conflict

Stephen Gethins: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, if she will take steps to ensure that all parties involved in the conflict in Yemen allow unimpeded humanitarian access (a) into and (b) within the country to reach people in need.

Mr Desmond Swayne: The UK continues to call on all parties to facilitate rapid, safe and unhindered access to all people in need in Yemen, and to lift any restrictions on commercial and humanitarian shipping.The UK is one of the largest donors to the crisis in Yemen and has announced £75 million to respond to the humanitarian crisis in Yemen, focused on the most urgent life-saving needs. UK aid is providing vital medical supplies, water, food and emergency shelter, as well as supporting UN work to co-ordinate the international humanitarian response.

Sub-Saharan Africa: HIV Infection

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what steps her Department is taking to reduce the number of new HIV infections in sub-Saharan Africa.

Grant Shapps: DFID is focussing its bilateral programme on reducing new HIV infection rates in southern Africa, the region hardest-hit by the epidemic. Our efforts are focused on the integration of HIV prevention and treatment services within sexual and reproductive health programmes. A particular emphasis is on the needs of women and girls and those populations most at risk.DFID is increasingly working through multilateral organisations, which can work in many more countries than the UK can reach on its own and at a much larger scale. That is why the UK made a commitment of up to a £1 billion to the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria (GFATM) for the 2014–16 replenishment.

Palestinians: Economic Growth

Rushanara Ali: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what steps the Government is taking to support economic growth in the Palestinian Territories.

Mr Desmond Swayne: DFID is promoting private sector development which contributes to state and peacebuilding in the Occupied Palestinian Territories by supporting fiscal sustainability, and reducing unemployment and poverty. DFID’s focus is on increasing growth and employment in key sectors, such as manufacturing, tourism, IT, and agriculture. Our support is channelled through the Palestinian Market Development Programme which seeks to improve the competitiveness of the Palestinian private sector, and through our support to the Office of the Quartet which attempts to make it easier to trade by removing movement and access restrictions.

Developing Countries: Health Services

Clive Lewis: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, whether it is an objective of the Health System Strengthening Framework to support partner governments to increase domestic funding for health services.

Clive Lewis: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what groups of people will be prioritised by the new Health System Strengthening Framework.

Clive Lewis: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, how the Health System Strengthening Framework will address the links between different health issues.

Grant Shapps: DFID’s health systems strengthening framework will set out how the UK should support countries to build strong, resilient health systems in future, both through its own resources and through its partner organisations. This will help countries to make sustainable progress towards the global goal of ensuring healthy lives and promoting well-being for all at all ages. A strong health system recognises the links between different health issues and provides integrated services to address them. Sustained financing is essential to good quality service provision and the framework will include support for greater domestic resource mobilisation and better public financial management. It will prioritise those who would otherwise be left behind, including the poorest, the most marginalised and those who are hardest to reach.

Developing Countries: Health Services

Clive Lewis: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, when she plans to publish the new Health System Strengthening Framework.

Grant Shapps: In the government response to the International Development Committee’s report on Strengthening Health Systems in Developing Countries, DFID proposed to develop a framework for future work on health systems. DFID is developing the framework in consultation with the Department of Health and other UK institutions. DFID is due to update the Committee on progress against its recommendations, including the health systems strengthening framework, in November 2015.

Department for Education

Schools: Construction

Robert Jenrick: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what the average cost of building a primary school in England was in 2014 excluding the cost of land.

Edward Timpson: The Department for Education does not centrally collect data on building new primary schools across all local authorities in England. The cost of building schools varies significantly depending on local factors, including the size of the school. Local authorities report the cost per place of providing new school places through the annual School Capacity data collection. For primary schools this data has been used to produce basic need scorecards. The scorecards detail the cost per place, including for new schools, for each local authority. The latest published scorecards are for the academic year 2013/14 and can be accessed at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/primary-school-places-local-authority-basic-need-scorecards-2014.

Schools: Fylde

Mark Menzies: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to adequately resource schools to meet the increased demand for school places from new residents of large housing developments in Fylde.

Edward Timpson: Local authorities are responsible for planning and securing sufficient school places in their area, and supporting them to do so is one of this Government’s top priorities.Basic need funding is allocated to local authorities to support them in creating new school places. We use data provided by local authorities to ensure funding is targeted according to levels of need in each area. This Government has committed to investing a further £7 billion to create new school places between 2015 and 2021. Lancashire will receive £46 million of basic need funding from 2015-2018.Where place pressure is created by future housing developments, we expect local authorities to seek contributions from developers as they are an important way of helping to meet the cost of future places. It is for the local planning authority to negotiate developer contributions through section 106 agreements or Community Infrastructure Levies, and to decide on the local infrastructure needs that this contribution should support.

Special Educational Needs

Ben Howlett: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to prevent sexual exploitation of vulnerable people with special educational needs in schools.

Edward Timpson: The government’s report ‘Tackling Child Sexual Exploitation’ sets out the steps that the government is taking to protect children from sexual exploitation, including children with learning difficulties and disabilities. For example, we are exploring how personal, social, health and economic education training and resources for schools might be tailored for staff and special schools, and have provided £4.85 million for services supporting child sexual abuse survivors, including vulnerable children with learning difficulties.

Children in Care

Stephen McPartland: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what plans she has to extend Ofsted inspections to semi-independent care provision for 16 to 18 year olds; and if she will make a statement.

Edward Timpson: Local Authorities are responsible for ensuring that 16-and 17-year-olds that are either looked after or care leavers, are placed in safe and suitable accommodation. Statutory guidance sets out the factors that local authorities must take into account when determining the suitability of accommodation. The full guidance can be found at:https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/children-act-1989-transition-to-adulthood-for-care-leaversSince 2013, Ofsted inspections of local authorities’ children’s social care services have included a separate sub-judgement on care leavers, which includes an assessment of whether the local authority is ensuring that care leavers have access to suitable accommodation. In particular, Ofsted inspect whether:Accommodation for care leavers is appropriate for each young person to safely develop their independence skills;Care leavers are safe and feel safe, particularly where they are living;Care leavers are helped to find housing solutions that best meet their needs; andRisks of tenancy breakdown are identified and alternative plans are put in place.The government recognises that more needs to be done to improve care leavers’ outcomes and is considering how it can build on the achievements of the first ever cross-government care leaver strategy which was introduced in October 2013. This will include consideration of what can be done to drive further improvement in the quality of accommodation that care leavers receive.

Academies: Faith Schools

Sir David Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many (a) free schools and (b) academies with a religious character have been opened in each of the last five years.

Sir David Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the effect of the 50 per cent cap on faith-based admissions on the levels of religious diversity in free schools and new academies; and if she will make a statement.

Sir David Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many (a) free schools and (b) academies have been affected by the 50 per cent cap on faith-based admissions on oversubscribed schools in each of the last five years.

Sir David Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many (a) free schools and (b) academies with a religious character have been oversubscribed in each of the last five years.

Sir David Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many (a) free schools and (b) academies have been affected by the 50 per cent cap on faith-based admissions in each of the last five years.

Edward Timpson: The government is committed to ensuring that faith designated free schools and new academies provide additional places not just for pupils of their own faith but for pupils from other faiths or no faith. It is for individual schools to decide whether or not to adopt faith based admission arrangements.Those that do may give priority when oversubscribed to a maximum of 50% of applicants with reference to their faith. The department does not collect data on schools that are oversubscribed or on religious diversity in those schools that adopt faith based admission arrangements. The number of free schools and new provision academies with a religious character opening between September 2010 and October 2015 by academic year is detailed in the table below. Numbers of free schools and new provision academies with a religious character opening  between September 2010 and October 2015 by academic yearAcademic year of opening2010/112011/122012/132013/142014/152015/16TotalFree Schools and New Provision Academies071222151268

Ofsted: Staff

Ian Austin: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent assessment she has made of the (a) quality and (b) adequacy of the number of Ofsted inspectors.

Nick Gibb: The assessment of the quality or adequacy of Ofsted inspectors is the responsibility of Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector.

Children: Reading

Ian Austin: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many children entered Key Stage 3 a year or more behind in reading level in each of the last three years.

Nick Gibb: The expected level of attainment in reading at the end of Key Stage 2 is level 4. Information on the number and percentage of children achieving different levels in reading tests at the end of Key Stage 2 is published in Table 3 of the “National curriculum assessments: key stage 2” series.[1],[2],[3],[4][1] https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/national-curriculum-assesments-at-key-stage-2-2015-provisional[2] https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/national-curriculum-assessments-at-key-stage-2-2014-revised[3] https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/national-curriculum-assessments-at-key-stage-2-2012-to-2013[4] Data for 2013 and 2014 is revised and 2015 is provisional.

Ofsted

Ian Austin: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent assessment she has made of the effectiveness of Ofsted in improving standards in schools; what data she uses to make that assessment; and if she will publish that data.

Nick Gibb: Responsibility for improving standards in schools lies with head teachers. Ofsted inspection is one of a range of measures which support accountability and school improvement.Ofsted has recently introduced new school inspection arrangements and has increased the proportion of inspectors which are current school leaders. Ofsted will monitor the impact of these changes.

Teachers: Veterans

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she plans to take to increase the number of former Armed Forces personnel who retrain as teachers through the Troops to Teachers programme.

Nick Gibb: The government recognises that service leavers have a wealth of skills and experiences that have been proven to be transferable to the classroom, including teamwork, leadership and the ability to inspire and engage. Former armed forces personnel model attributes such as self-discipline and resilience.The University of Brighton, who are contracted to run the programme, continue to promote Troops to Teachers through a range of methods including service leaver employment fairs.

Studio Schools

Ben Howlett: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent assessment she has made of the effect of studio schools on pupil attainment.

Mr Sam Gyimah: Studio schools have a part to play in our education reforms by harnessing the talents of students. They offer hands-on learning and work experience alongside their GCSEs and A levels, providing them with the vocational and “work ready” skills that employers demand.

Free School Meals

Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what estimate she has made of how many children are entitled to but not registered to receive free school meals.

Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many children receiving universal infant free school meals are not registered as free school meal the purposes of pupils for the purposes of pupil premium funding.

Mr Sam Gyimah: The latest research carried out by the Department for Education indicates that under-registration for free school meals fell from 14% (197,700) in 2012 to 11% (161,400) in 2013. The research is available at: www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/266339/DFE-RR319.pdfThe January 2015 census data was published in the department’s 2015 Schools, Pupils and their Characteristics statistical first release (June 2015), available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/schools-pupils-and-their-characteristics-january-2015. The relevant statistics are at Table 3d of the underlying national data tables.Pupil premium funding is based on whether pupils have been registered for benefits-related free school meals at any point in the last six years and not only those who are currently registered.

Schools: Water Charges

Rosie Cooper: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the effect on (a) individual school budgets and (b) local education authority budgets of variations in the water and sewerage charges borne by schools in different parts of the country.

Rosie Cooper: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will amend the school funding formula so that it recognises major cost variations in schools' water and sewerage charges.

Mr Sam Gyimah: Whilst the Department for Education sets the level of funding received by each local authority, it is for local authorities, in consultation with their schools forum, to set their own funding formulae to decide how to distribute funding for pupils aged 5 to 16 in their areas. If schools in West Lancashire are particularly affected by this issue, I suggest that they contact their local authority and school forum representative. We are committed to making funding fairer and will take into account the latest information on the cost of providing education when developing our proposals.

Schools: Islam

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent advice she has given to schools on tackling Islamophobia.

Nick Gibb: The Department for Education’s policy is to tackle all forms of discrimination, extremism, hate crime and bullying. All schools are required to promote the fundamental British values of democracy, the rule of law, individual liberty and mutual respect and tolerance of those with different faith and beliefs. Our guidance published in November 2014 says that British values include accepting that others of different faiths or beliefs to oneself (or having none) should be accepted and tolerated, and should not be the cause of prejudicial or discriminatory behaviour. The guidance can be found online at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/promoting-fundamental-british-values-through-smsc.All publicly funded schools are required to promote community cohesion and teach a broad and balanced curriculum.The curriculum provides many opportunities to foster tolerance and understanding. As part of the history curriculum, pupils could learn about different cultures, and about how different groups have contributed to the development of Britain. The citizenship programme of study sets out a requirement for pupils to be taught about ‘the diverse national, regional, religious, and ethnic identities in the United Kingdom and the need for mutual respect and understanding’. PSHE can teach young people about the rights and responsibilities of living in a diverse community and how to respect others.All forms of bullying are unacceptable and all schools are required to have in place a behaviour policy with measures to tackle bullying and they are held to account by Ofsted. Inspectors will look at records and analysis of bullying, discriminatory and prejudicial behaviour, either directly or indirectly, including racist, disability and homophobic bullying, use of derogatory language and racist incidents.We have made clear in advice to schools that where bullying outside school is reported to school staff, it should be investigated and acted on. If the misbehaviour could be criminal or poses a serious threat to a member of the public, the police should always be informed.

Department for Culture, Media and Sport

Internet: Certification

Mark Pritchard: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what steps the Government is taking to extend the BBFC's voluntary pilot project for the rating of online music videos to other online platforms, UK music labels and publishers and non-UK music labels; and what plans he has to review the voluntary nature of that scheme.

Mr Edward Vaizey: Independent evaluation of the pilot shows that 78% of parents value age ratings for online music videos and 86% of parents would choose online channels with clear age ratings for their children’s viewing. We were pleased therefore to announce recently that the industry and the BBFC were putting their online music videos ratings scheme on a permanent footing and extending it to include videos produced in the UK by independent labels, as well as by major UK labels.We welcome this voluntary action by industry and will now be looking at how the lessons learned in the UK could help international partners adopt a similar approach.Government is committed to working with labels and platforms towards seeing age rating on all online music videos.

National Lottery

Mark Pritchard: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, if he will hold discussions with Camelot on steps they are taking to reverse the recent decline in national lottery sales.

Tracey Crouch: National Lottery sales are not declining. 2014/2015 was the most successful year for The National Lottery ever, achieving £7.27bn in sales and £1.96bn for good causes. Sales are up on the previous year (£6.73bn) and have even surpassed the record-breaking Olympic year of 2012/2013 (£6.9bn).

Football: Tickets

Mark Pritchard: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, if he will hold discussions with the FA about the affordability of tickets to Premier League matches for people on the national average wage.

Tracey Crouch: The pricing of tickets is a matter for the clubs to decide on, however we would encourage all clubs, whether in the Premier League or not, to think carefully about affordability for all fans when setting their ticket prices.

Telecommunications: Competition

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what plans he has to promote competition in the telecommunications market.

Mr Edward Vaizey: It is a matter for Ofcom to monitor and regulate competition in electronic communications markets and periodically to review the operation of the markets. The Regulator announced in March this year a Strategic Review of Digital Communications in the UK. Maintaining and promoting competition in the telecommunications market is a key area that it is considering, as set out in theDiscussion Document Ofcom[O1]published in July. This can be found athttp://stakeholders.ofcom.org.uk/binaries/consultations/dcr_discussion/summary/digital-comms-review.pdfThe European Commission has just begun a review of the Electronic Communications regulatory Framework. The promotion of competition in the telecommunications sector is high on the UK’s list of objectives for this review.The UK remains a highly competitive market. It has the lowest available stand alone fixed broadband cost among the six biggest countries in Europe, the average price of a residential fixed broadband package has fallen by 40% in real terms between 2004 and 2014. The UK also hasthe second cheapest mobile tariffs. There are over a dozen companies offering fixed broadband services, either over their own infrastructure or through local loop unbundling. In mobile, as well as the 4 major mobile network operators, there are over 40 virtual network operators offering services.

Rugby: World Cup

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what plans his Department has to promote the legacy of the 2015 Rugby World Cup.

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what legacy he expects from the UK's hosting of the Rugby World Cup.

Tracey Crouch: The Rugby World Cup is expected to attract 466,000 international visitors to England – more than any previous RWC. Research from Visit Britain tells us that sport tourists traditionally stay for longer, have a propensity to travel around the country and spend more money when doing so. International visitors are expected to contribute up to £869 million in direct expenditure to the UK economy. Last year, an economic impact study by EY estimated a boost of almost £1bn to the UK’s GDP (of £2.2bn total spend generated). This includes £85m of infrastructure projects and the support of 41,000 jobs.There are strong plans to drive legacy benefits from the tournament. The Rugby Football Union (RFU) is working to spread the game's popularity and there are also plans around the host cities to maximise economic and community benefits.The RFU's plans to grow the game include:improving facilities through £10m investmentinvesting in people, including by recruiting and training nearly 3,000 referees and over 3,000 new coaches, and recruiting 6,000 volunteers ('the Pack') to help run the tournamentincreasing schools’ participation in rugby, especially state schools. 130,000 new state school pupils have played rugby, of whom a third are girls and of whom 3,000 are now playing regularly for a clubattracting 16-24 year old players back to clubspromoting touch rugby to appeal to more peoplethe Unity Project to promote rugby in Europe’s developing rugby nations; andcultural engagement through over 700 rugby themed events and celebrations.DCMS and the Government continue to be fully supportive of these plans.UK Trade & Investment (UKTI) is coordinating a Rugby World Cup Business Festival programme of activity across 8 of 9 regions, aligned to the locations of fixtures. A Global Investment Conference (GIC), hosted by UKTI, launched the festival on 17 September 2015 at Lancaster House. This brought together government leaders and 150 senior potential and existing investors from 9 key Foreign Direct Investment target market countries with teams competing in the tournament.

Motor Sports: Young People

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what steps his Department is taking to increase participation in motor sport for young people from families with lower incomes.

Tracey Crouch: Around 25,000 adults already participate in motorsports each week in England and with support this number could increase further. Motor sports and motor cycling clubs and associations are eligible to apply to Sport England for funding and I would encourage them to consider this as an option to help increase participation.

Festivals and Special Occasions: Lancashire

Mr Mark Hendrick: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, if Ministers in his Department plan to attend Lancashire Day celebrations on 27 November 2015.

Tracey Crouch: "Lancashire Day is a wonderful opportunity to celebrate Lancashire, and as you know, it is of great importance to your constituents. Thank you for the invitation to this fantastic event. Ministers' diaries are unfortunately very busy, but we hope the day is a success."

Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs: Pressure Groups

Chris Stephens: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what meetings her Department has had with representatives of (a) the Taxpayers' Alliance, (b) the Confederation of British Industry, (c) the Institute of Economic Affairs, (d) the Adam Smith Institute, (e) the Freedom Association, (f) the Politics and Economic Research Trust and (g) the Midlands Industrial Council in the last 12 months.

George Eustice: Details of Ministers' meetings with external organisations are published up to 31 March 2015 and can be accessed on Gov.uk at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/ministerial-quarterly-transparency-information-january-to-march-2015Further publications of Ministerial meetings will be published in due course

Motor Vehicles: Exhaust Emissions

Zac Goldsmith: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if her Department will revise its consultation paper on air quality draft plans, published on 12 September 2015, to take into account findings by the US Environmental Protection Agency of car manufacturers cheating in vehicle emissions tests.

Rory Stewart: The projections modelled in the draft plans were based on road transport emission factors from COPERT (Computer Programme to calculate Emissions from Road Transport). These take into account the gap between real world emissions and those from testing.

Animal Feed

Oliver Colvile: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what progress her Department is making on research on the production of diverse forage mixtures to optimise animal production.

George Eustice: Innovate UK, Defra and BBSRC are co-funding the Sustainable Agriculture and Food Innovation Platform (SAFIP), worth £90 million over five years with match funding by industry. There are a number of projects funded under SAFIP on the development of alternative and diverse forages to optimise the sustainability of animal production in the UK.

Bovine Tuberculosis: Disease Control

Mr Laurence Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent assessment she has made of the effectiveness of the PCR test for tuberculosis; and if she will make a statement.

George Eustice: Defra recently funded a comparative study of several potential tests, including the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test, for detecting Mycobacterium bovis in badger faeces. None of the tests met the minimum levels of sensitivity and specificity. Defra is considering if there are any situations where the current tests can be used informatively on a large scale. PCR is also used to enhance detection of M.bovis in bacterial culture and the EU Reference Laboratory for bovine tuberculosis has also assessed the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test. (https://www.visavet.es/bovinetuberculosis/ring-trials.php).Defra continues to review evidence of effectiveness of the potential diagnostic application of PCR in other situations.

Bovine Tuberculosis: Disease Control

Mr Laurence Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent assessment she has made of the incidence of bovine TB on farms situated in trial badger cull areas.

George Eustice: On 28 August 2015, the Animal and Plant Health Agency published a report of the incidence of bovine tuberculosis in cattle in 2013-14 in the areas of Somerset and Gloucestershire exposed to the first year of industry-led badger culling. The report is annexed to the Bovine TB Surveillance Report for England 2014, which is available at https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/bovine-tb-surveillance-in-great-britain-2014.

Schools: Water Charges

Rosie Cooper: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment she has made of the reasons for the difference between the water and sewerage charge per pupil in Lancashire and Kent; and if she will make a statement.

Rory Stewart: Water and sewerage charges are set by water companies in line with the overall cap set by Ofwat on the amount that each water company may recover from their customers.Water company charges vary across regions to reflect the cost of collecting or abstracting water and treating it to meet water quality standards; building and maintaining pipes to deliver water, remove sewerage and surface water; and treating sewerage to meet environmental standards. Due to the variations in demography and geography these processes and costs vary greatly by region.Water charges include a surface water charge to cover the costs of removing and treating rainwater that drains away to public sewers. Some water companies share these costs equally across all their customers; four companies charge their non-household customers according to property size. Charging by this method better reflects the amount of rainwater draining into the public sewer.The Government recognised that charging in this way can have a particular impact on community groups with property covering a large site-area and, in 2010, issued guidance to Ofwat and water companies on developing concessionary schemes for these groups. Our recent consultation on draft charging guidance to Ofwat recognised that concerns have subsequently been raised about the impact of site area charging on other groups, including schools. It recognised the importance of organisations taking a more sustainable approach to drainage, but said that area based charging should result in a recognisable benefit to customers as a whole and should not have an unduly negative impact on organisations that provide a wider benefit to society. We are currently considering the responses to this consultation, and whether we should review the guidance on concessionary schemes.

Department for Energy and Climate Change

Hinkley Point C Power Station: Government Assistance

Alan Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what legal advice her Department has received on responding to the challenge in the European Court of Justice to the approval of state aid for the proposed Hinkley nuclear power station.

Andrea Leadsom: DECC has taken and is continuing to take legal advice from internal and external legal advisers on these challenges. The Government is confident that the European Commission’s State aid decision on Hinkley Point C is legally robust and has no reason to believe that the challenges submitted have any merit or would delay the project.

Electricity: Prices

Alan Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what the market rate for electricity was when the strike rate of £92.50/MWh for the proposed Hinkley Point C power station was agreed with EDF; and what the current market rate for electricity is.

Andrea Leadsom: The Strike Price for Hinkley Point C was agreed in October 2013. The monthly average of market prices in October 2013 was around £48/MWh. This is based on published indicators by the industry regulator Ofgem:https://www.ofgem.gov.uk/monitoring-market/wholesale-market-indicatorsUsing the most recently published data from Ofgem, the monthly average of day-ahead prices between Jan and May 2015 ranged between approx. £40/MWh and £44/MWh.Current wholesale market prices are an inadequate comparator for the costs of different electricity technologies in the future. The current wholesale price reflects an average of the short-term costs for existing generation already on the system, rather than the costs of future generation including investment costs.Hinkley Point C is expected to be cost-competitive with other electricity technologies capable of delivering at scale in the 2020s. It will also pave the way for a new nuclear pathway to deliver secure and low-carbon, reliable baseload generation.

Energy

Mr Roger Godsiff: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, if she will announce the timetable for the publication of a new Energy White Paper.

Andrea Leadsom: The Department for Energy and Climate Change has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Wales Office

Wales Office: Pressure Groups

Chris Stephens: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales, what meetings (a) Ministers and (b) officials of his Department have had with representatives of (i) the Taxpayers' Alliance, (ii) the Confederation of British Industry, (iii) the Institute of Economic Affairs, (iv) the Adam Smith Institute, (v) the Freedom Association, (vi) the Politics and Economics Research Trust and (vii) the Midlands Industrial Council in the last 12 months.

Stephen Crabb: The Wales Office publishes details of Ministerial meetings with external organisations on a quarterly basis. This information can be accessed at:www.gov.uk/government/publications?departments%5B%5D=wales-officeFurther publications of Ministerial meetings will be published in due course.Wales Office officials routinely meet with the Confederation of British Industry Wales, to discuss a variety of issues relating to the Welsh economy.

Ministry of Justice

Pornography

Stephen McPartland: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if he will bring forward legislative proposals to amend section 62 f the Coroners and Justice Act 2009 to apply additionally to the possession of pornographic written material; and if he will make a statement.

Stephen McPartland: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if he will bring forward legislative proposals to amend section 62 of the Coroners and Justice Act 2009 to apply additionally to the possession of child abuse written material; and if he will make a statement.

Mike Penning: The Coalition Government created a new criminal offence criminalising the possession of material that contains advice or guidance about abusing children sexually in the Serious Crime Act 2015. The offence is subject to a 3 year maximum prison sentence.

Knives: Crime

Mr David Burrowes: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many offenders have been sentenced for what length of time pursuant to (a) section 1 of the Prevention of Crime Act 1953, as amended by the Criminal Justice and Courts Act 2015 and (b) section 139 of the Criminal Justice Act 1988, as amended by the Criminal Justice and Courts Act 2015 to date.

Mr Shailesh Vara: The data requested on offences amended by the Criminal Justice and Courts Act 2015 is not yet available and will be published in due course.

Prisons: Jamaica

Mrs Madeleine Moon: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps he plans to take to ensure that the proposed prison in Jamaica constructed with funding from his Department will meet international standards for the treatment of prisoners; what plans he has to monitor the human rights record of that prison once constructed; whether he plans to review the repatriation of prisoners if such standards are not met by that prison; and if he will make a statement.

Andrew Selous: Funding for the new prison in Jamaica will be transferred from the Department for International Development. The Memorandum of Understanding signed between the UK and Jamaica states that the Government of Jamaica agree to ensure that the construction of the prison is compliant with international minimum standards for the treatment of prisoners, and the Government will monitor compliance with this.

Magistrates: Bridgend

Mrs Madeleine Moon: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what estimate his Department has made of the number of magistrates currently serving at Bridgend Law Courts who are willing and able to travel to work in their capacity as magistrates in Cardiff.

Mr Shailesh Vara: No estimate has been made. The closure of Bridgend Law Courts is proposed in the consultation ‘Proposal on the provision of court and tribunal services in Wales’, which closed on 8 October. No decision on the future of the Law Courts has been taken.

Ministry of Justice: Pressure Groups

Chris Stephens: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what meetings (a) Ministers and (b) officials in his Department have had with representatives of (i) the Taxpayers' Alliance, (ii) the Confederation of British Industry, (iii) the Institute of Economic Affairs, (iv) the Adam Smith Institute, (v) the Freedom Association, (vi) the Politics and Economics Research Trust and (vii) the Midlands Industrial Council in the last 12 months.

Mr Shailesh Vara: Details of Ministers' and Permanent Secretaries meetings with external organisations are published up to 31 March 2015 and can be accessed on Gov.uk at:https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/ministers-transparency-publicationsFurther publications of Ministerial and Permanent Secretaries meetings will be published in due course.

Youth Custody: Restraint Techniques

Jenny Chapman: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many times force has been used on children of each (a) gender and (b) ethnicity for good order and discipline in (i) secure children's homes, (ii) secure training centres and (iii) young offender institutions in each of the last three years.

Jenny Chapman: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many times force has been used on children for good order and discipline at (a) HM Young Offender Institution Feltham, (b) HM Young Offender Institution Wetherby, (c) HM Young Offender Institution Werrington, (d) HM Young Offender Institution Cookham Wood and (e) Parc Young People's Unit in each of the last three years.

Andrew Selous: We are clear that restraint should only be used as a last resort, where there is a risk of harm, and where it is absolutely necessary to do so and no other form of intervention is possible or appropriate.Restraint for passive non-compliance (previously good order and discipline) is not permitted in Secure Children’s Homes (SCHs) and Secure Training Centres (STCs). It is only permitted in Young Offender Institutions (YOIs).A new system of restraint, Minimising and Managing Restraint (MMPR), is being implemented in Secure Training Centres and Young Offenders Institutions. This has been specifically developed for use by staff working with young people in custody, and aims to avoid physical restraint as far as possible by recognising young people’s behaviour, and using a range of de-escalation, diversion and behaviour management techniques.Prior to the implementation of MMPR, no data was collected centrally on reasons for using force. Figures are presented on passive non-compliance for Hindley and Wetherby YOIs, the only YOIs that were using MMPR during this period.Table 1 shows the number of use of force incidents for passive non-compliance from October 2013 to September 2014, broken down by ethnicity. Since August 2013, all females within the secure estate have been placed in SCHs and STCs so no gender breakdown is provided.Table 1: Number of use of force incidents for passive non-compliance (previously good order and discipline), by ethnicityEthnicity2013-14Apr 14 -Sep 14Hindley YOIWetherby YOIHindley YOIWetherby YOI3 months data (Jan 14 - Mar 14)6 months data (Oct 13 - Mar 14)6 months data6 months dataAsian23123Black3101610Mixed0494Other0000White4610195127Total51118132144Notes:2013/14 ethnicity breakdown for Wetherby was revised following publication. The revised proportions have been applied to the published total.These figures have been drawn from administrative IT systems, which, as with any large scale recording system, are subject to possible errors with data entry and processing and can be subject to change over time.The data refers to the number of incidents of use of force and not the number of young people involved. An individual young person may have been involved in more than one incident of use of force and may therefore be counted twice.Data for the 2014/15 period is provisional and data for the full financial year will be published as part of the Youth Justice Statistics 2014/15 in January 2016. This is in line with the Code of Practice for Official Statistics.

HM Courts and Tribunals Service: Staff

Diana Johnson: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps he has taken to ensure that staff employed by HM Courts and Tribunals Service in the collection of court fines will have their employment transferred to the new provider of this service.

Diana Johnson: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, when he plans to announce the outcome of the tendering process for the privatisation of the HM Courts and Tribunals Service fines collection service.

Mr Shailesh Vara: As I set out in my Written Ministerial Statement of 15 October 2015, following re-consideration of the department’s requirements, we have decided that outsourcing these services to a single supplier is not the best option for HM Courts and Tribunals Service. Therefore the department has withdrawn the procurement for an external provider.Compliance and enforcement staff currently employed by HM Courts and Tribunals Service will not be transferred to an external provider.

Cabinet Office

Cabinet Office: Labour Turnover

Chi Onwurah: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what the level of staff turnover has been in (a) his Department and (b) the Government Digital Service in each of the last six months for which data is available.

Chi Onwurah: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many staff members have resigned from the Government Digital Service  since May 2015.

Matthew Hancock: Holding answer received on 12 October 2015



In the year to 30 September 2015, the level of staff turnover was (a) 30% in myDepartment and (b) 19% in the Government DigitalService. Thisincludes loans, secondments and fixed term appointments ending, transfersto other government departments (including Machinery of Government changes), voluntary exits,resignationsand retirements. There have been 27 resignations of permanent staff (1% of CO workforce) in my Department since 1 May2015 including 6 in the Government Digital Service (2% of GDS workforce).

Civil Servants: Trade Unions

Chris Stephens: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what estimate he has made of the number of civil servants who have the right to deductions at source of trade unions dues in their contract of employment.

Matthew Hancock: This is a matter for individual government departments, to which check-off arrangements are delegated.

Commission on Freedom of Information

Paul Blomfield: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, for what reasons consideration of extension of the scope of the Freedom of Information Act to private contractors has not been explicitly included within the scope of the Independent Commission on Freedom of Information's review.

Paul Blomfield: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, if he will instruct the Independent Commission on Freedom of Information to consider the impact the Freedom of Information Act has had on standards of governance.

Matthew Hancock: It is for the independent Commission on Freedom of Information to determine the scope of its review in accordance with its Terms of Reference.

Commission on Freedom of Information: Costs

Paul Blomfield: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how much he expects the Independent Commission on Freedom of Information to cost the public purse.

Matthew Hancock: The costs incurred by the independent Commission on Freedom of Information will be accounted for on publication of the Commission’s report.

Commission on Freedom of Information: Membership

Paul Blomfield: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what criteria was used for deciding the membership of the Independent Commission on Freedom of Information.

Matthew Hancock: Ministers appointed the members of the independent Commission on Freedom of Information on the basis of their experience and expertise, and to provide a cross-party balance.

Electoral Register: Young People

Mr Graham Allen: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what steps the Government is taking to confirm and add attainers and young voters to the electoral register before December 2015.

John Penrose: Electoral Registration Officers (EROs) are currently conducting the first full canvass of households under Individual Electoral Registration (IER). This will help to identify new attainers with Household Enquiry Forms specifically asking for the names of all residents who are over the age of 16.The Government has funded youth organisations, including Active Citizens FE, Bite the Ballot and UK Youth, for activities that engage attainers and young people in the democratic process. Cabinet Office has also developed free resources, including Rock Enrol!, for use in schools, colleges and youth groups to encourage people to participate in democracy and register to vote.

Electoral Register: Young People

Mr Graham Allen: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, if he will extend the successful Schools Initiative in Northern Ireland established to increase voter registration among 16 to 18 year olds to other parts of the UK before the next 2015 deadline for electoral registration.

Mr Graham Allen: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what assessment his Department has made of lessons learned from the successful Schools Initiative in Northern Ireland established to increase voter registration among attainers and young voters.

John Penrose: The most recent report by the Electoral Commission (November 2012) on completeness and accuracy of the register in Northern Ireland showed that 51% of 18 - 19 year olds were registered to vote compared to 76% in Great Britain. The Government has no current plans to extend the Northern Ireland Schools Initiative to the rest of the United Kingdom.

Living Wage: Warrington

Helen Jones: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, if he will estimate how many people in (a) Warrington and (b) Warrington North constituency are employed in jobs paying less than the living wage.

Mr Rob Wilson: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the Authority to reply.



UKSA Letter to Member - Employment
(PDF Document, 92.44 KB)

Public Sector: English Language

Gavin Newlands: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, if he will estimate how many people working in front-line public sector jobs in 2014 were not able to speak fluent English.

Mr Rob Wilson: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the Authority to reply.



UKSA Letter to Member - Public Sector Jobs
(PDF Document, 63.28 KB)

Foreign Companies

Mr Roger Godsiff: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, with reference to the Prime Minister's speech in Singapore of 28 July 2015, when he plans to initiate the consultation into making property ownership by foreign companies more transparent; what format he plans for that consultation to take; who he plans to invite to participate in that consultation; and when he plans for it to be concluded.

Matthew Hancock: The consultation on making property ownership by foreign companies more transparent will be launched in the near future. The format and scope will be decided on shortly. Theconsultation will allow stakeholders sufficient time to provide a considered response.

House of Commons Commission

Portcullis House: Fire Alarms

Frank Field: To ask the hon. Member for Carshalton and Wallington representing the House of Commons Commission, how many fire alarms in Portcullis House in the last 12 months (a) resulted from fires and (b) were false alarms.

Tom Brake: Since October 2014 there has been one fire alarm in Portcullis House caused by a fire. There have been six false alarms: two of which were manual call point actuations and four caused by equipment defects or the inadvertent interruption of detector beams.